Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s exit could be a buying opportunity for investors. Can you get rich off his fall from grace? Brett Holzhauer Fri, November 13, 2026 at 12:10 PM EST 8 min read NVDA -2.93% Trade NVIDIA on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stepped down Nov. 12 after news broke of his extramarital affair with an alleged Chinese spy, as well as two other company employees (1).
This is a significant moment as Huang exits, and a massive shake-up for Nvidia. Huang planned the company with his two cofounders, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, inside a Denny's restaurant in 1993 (2) and helped grow it to over $5 trillion in market cap at its highs — leading it to the apex of the AI revolution.
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The New York Times broke the news on Oct. 29 about the first alleged affair, with shares hovering around $214. On Thursday, Nov. 12, in the hours after his resignation, shares closed at $166. The total fall erased $1 trillion from Nvidia's total market cap.
Despite losing nearly a quarter of the company's value in the wake of this controversy, investors should keep in mind that this is not a death sentence.
And one study suggests this could be a momentary buying opportunity, as CEO handoffs have proven profitable. Here's what you need to know.
MarketWise published a study in April 2026 (3), titled the CEO Handoff Effect, analyzing how stocks performed when a company's leader changed hands, the circumstances under which it happened, and whether the former leader stayed on in any advisory capacity.
The study examined 91 confirmed CEO transitions announced between Jan. 1, 2010, and March 31, 2026, at U.S. publicly traded companies in the S&P 500. Here are the scenarios and how each performed in the three trading days following the news:
Some reports suggest Huang's resignation was forced (4). Based on the MarketWise study, this could mean the stock may rise in the short term — although it has yet to do so. Forced CEO exits beat the market 69% of the time over three days and gained 8% over three months. The three-month window in particular might be interesting for sharp investors.
History says forced exits usually send the respective stocks upward, but with only 13 cases in the study, that 8% gain is a pattern, not a guarantee. With trailing and forward P/E ratios of 20 and 11, well below the company's average, the stock is a steal right against its historical numbers — regardless of whether it matches MarketWise's research.
To be clear, Nvidia would still need to rally substantially to recover from its October losses. At the start of October, the stock was trading at $239.94 per share. As a reminder, at market close on Nov. 12, the day of Huang's resignation, that price was $166, following a steady erosion starting in early November, according to CNBC (5).
It's also important to remember two things: Nvidia has been an outlier in terms of its massive success, and that past performance doesn't guarantee future returns. Buying the dip always risks a cliff turning into a chasm.
If you do want to buy the dip, whether Nvidia or AI stocks more generally, you could work with SoFi to invest in ETFs or index funds. You can also pick out individual stocks yourself if you feel confident in making market moves.
The platform is designed to help you learn investing as you go, with real-time investing news, curated content and the data you need to make smart decisions about the stocks that matter most to you. SoFi can even help create a personal watch list based on your interests.
This DIY approach allows you to invest with no commission fees in the stocks, index funds or ETFs you believe in. Plus, for a limited time, you can get up to $1,000 in stock when you fund a new account.
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For those who can't stomach these kinds of swings with individual stocks, there are other options available. After all, stock picking as a long term investing tool can require a lot of time, effort and attention. As the old expression goes: "Time in the market beats timing the market."
That's one reason why many experts, including investing legend Warren Buffett, suggest that retail investors avoid picking stocks.
How true that is can vary based on personal circumstances and investments, of course, but Buffett himself has been very clear on the matter.
"The goal of the non-professional should not be to pick winners," Buffett wrote in Berkshire Hathaway's 2013 letter to shareholders. "But should rather be to own a cross-section of businesses that in aggregate are bound to do well. A low-cost S&P 500 index fund will achieve this goal."
For those interested in this kind of set-and-forget investing, Acorns may be a great place to start.
You can start building a diversified portfolio with considerably less than the price of one share of Nvidia. Acorns helps automate the habit by investing your spare change and setting up recurring deposits when you're ready.
Link your debit or credit cards, and Acorns rounds eligible purchases up to the nearest dollar. A $6.25 morning bagel sets aside 75 cents toward your investments. Once those round-ups reach $5, the money transfers into your investment account.
If you're worried about the tech sector in the wake of Huang's resignation, Acorns can also help you diversify. Along with big names like the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, you can also invest in specific sectors of the economy through custom portfolios. This includes areas like heavy industry, energy, consumer staples and utilities.
And if you sign up with a recurring monthly investment of at least $5, Acorns will add a $20 bonus to help you get going.
Investors are now looking to the company's future. An interim CEO, Colette Kress, has already been appointed, and Harvey Jones was named chair. This is a positive sign for the stock, rather than him being retained.
However, a few potential hurdles remain for investors to consider. Nvidia's next earnings call is on Nov. 17. Additionally, Huang says he will testify before Congress before Thanksgiving, which is Nov. 26 this year.
The fall news cycle has been dizzying for even the most up-to-date investor. This can make it hard to sort through all the noise, especially for those who spend time with self-directed investments. That's when having a bit of extra support can help you make your decisions.
If you're looking for investment wrap-ups from professionals, Moby may be able to help. Their team spends hundreds of hours sifting through financial news and data to provide you with stock and crypto reports delivered straight to your inbox. Moby's research keeps you up to date on market shifts and can help you reduce the guesswork behind choosing stocks and ETFs.
In four years, and across almost 400 stock picks, their recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average. They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Plus, their reports are easy to understand for beginners, so you can become a smarter investor in just five minutes.
A blunt Wall Street Journal (6) headline followed Huang's resignation: "Nvidia Shareholders Won't Miss Jensen Huang for Long." It pointed to questionable use of company capital for circular investments, but reiterated Nvidia will be "a profit- and cash-generating machine for the foreseeable future."
Investors look to be bullish despite the scandal and waning AI sentiment. A record $111 million (7) of Nvidia shares were purchased in the first 30 minutes of Thursday trading, according to financial research firm Vanda.
This was 40 times higher than typical purchasing flows for the same period.
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We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
Forbes (1); NVIDIA Developer Blogs (2); MarketWise (3); The Wall Street Journal (4), (6); CNBC (5); X Corp. (7)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
