As they look into whether their CEO was the target of foreign intelligence, Nvidia’s stock declines
Nvidia shares fell this Monday on electronic platforms, after an internal investigation into whether its CEO, Jensen Huang. Had been the target of a foreign intelligence operation questioned his future at the AI chip maker.
The internal investigation was opened after journalistic information according to which Huang had maintained a close relationship with a Chinese businesswoman who allegedly transmitted information to Beijing. Huang told Nvidia employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife, without revealing details of the relationship.
The investigation focused attention on Huang’s future, given Nvidia’s status as the world’s most valuable chip maker and its CEO’s role as the most prolific marketer of the AI boom.
The consequences extended to South Korea, where Madison Huang, an Nvidia executive and Huang’s daughter. Postponed a trip to Seoul to attend a company conference that was supposed to start this Monday, according to the companies she was supposed to meet with.
Perpetual futures prices on the Hyperliquid platform and after-hours trading on the Blue Ocean system put Nvidia shares at about $180.30 per share. Which is roughly 3.4% less than the Nasdaq closing price of $186.64 on Friday.
Data center growth
«At a time when there is a lot of speculation regarding data center growth, the market is probably telling you today that this is not doing the stock any favors.» Stated Chris Weston, head of research at Melbourne brokerage Pepperstone.
However, Weston said he did not believe Huang, whom he described as the “godfather of AI,” would be replaced.
“If we really thought he was going to resign, (…) the stock would collapse; it would be a real drain, to be honest,” he said.
The New York Times reported last month that Jensen Huang had been in a relationship with Alice Huang. A former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, to whom he is not related. US authorities investigated her and concluded that she was a collaborator with the Chinese intelligence services.
