Nvidia Board Reportedly Weighs Huang’s Ouster After 13.8% Drop

By Marcus Bennett

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) shares fell 13.8% from their November 6 close after reports that the board was preparing to oust CEO Jensen Huang.

At $160.95 in after-hours trading at 6:30 p.m. ET on November 11, 2026, the shares were down 7.4% from Wednesday’s close. November 6 was the last close before Huang’s admission.

What did the board report?

The Wall Street Journal reported at 5:27 p.m. ET, citing people familiar with the matter, that Nvidia’s board was preparing to oust Huang. The board could meet as soon as Wednesday night to decide Huang’s future. The company has not commented.

What triggered the report?

The Journal report came shortly after a New York Times story that said Huang had a relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare. Powell was one of roughly 60 executives reporting to him, and the Times cited five former employees.

Three days before the Times account, Huang told employees he had been unfaithful to his wife. Reports also linked him to Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore’s Megaspeed whom U.S. officials suspect of spying for China. China calls that allegation groundless. Jensen Huang has not been accused of a crime.

Nvidia has no named successor. Gil Luria of D.A. Davidson told Reuters: “Mr. Huang being removed immediately could be challenging for Nvidia since it does not have a succession plan in place.”

How did Intel and McDonald’s respond?

On June 21, 2018, Intel said CEO Brian Krzanich had resigned after an investigation found a past consensual relationship with an employee. The relationship broke a company policy applying to managers, and Intel had no successor ready.

CFO Bob Swan ran the company as interim CEO for seven months before the board gave him the job in January 2019. Intel was also struggling to get its next generation of chips into production.

Intel stock fell 2.4% that day, compared with a 0.6% decline for the S&P 500. One year later, including dividends, Intel had lost 8.7%, while the index had gained 8.5%. The gap amounted to 17 percentage points.

On Sunday, November 3, 2019, McDonald’s said its board had fired CEO Steve Easterbrook over a consensual relationship with an employee that violated company policy. The same announcement named Chris Kempczinski, who ran the U.S. business, as CEO.

In August 2020, McDonald’s sued Easterbrook, alleging that he had hidden other relationships. In 2021, he agreed to return more than $105 million in pay.

McDonald’s stock fell 2.7% the next trading day. One year later, including dividends, it had gained 14.7%, ahead of the S&P 500’s 11.9% gain despite the 2020 crash. At the six-month mark, both were down: McDonald’s by 7.6% and the index by 6.1%.

What did $100,000 become?

The first-day declines at both companies stayed below 3%. Nvidia’s after-hours fall had already gone further.

• Intel path: $100,000 became $91,334 after one year, including dividends.
• McDonald’s path: $100,000 became $114,657 after one year, including dividends.

The outcomes diverged around two variables: successor readiness and the health of the underlying business. McDonald’s had both advantages. Intel had neither, while it struggled with chip production.

Why is Nvidia’s case different?

Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and has run it ever since. Krzanich and Easterbrook were hired managers, which made their replacements easier. Earlier Wednesday, Baird analysts Tristan Gerra and Tyler Bomba said a CEO change was growing more likely and favored an outside hire.

Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives said Nvidia “would be worth 25% to 30% less” without Huang. Nvidia’s business is far healthier than Intel’s was in 2018. A Blind survey found that 88% of 232 Nvidia employees wanted Huang to stay.

What does this change for shareholders?

At $160.95, a $100,000 Nvidia position held about 621 shares. The Intel and McDonald’s histories provide examples, not forecasts: the stake would become roughly $91,334 on the Intel path or $114,657 on the McDonald’s path.

Neither case involved a founder-CEO, so the actual range could be wider in either direction. The board’s first answer matters most: whether it names a credible successor quickly or leaves the position open.

For holders, position size is the controllable variable. A stake that would hurt under the Intel outcome is one worth trimming, preferably inside an IRA, where selling does not trigger a tax bill.