Nvidia and Jensen Huang fallout: Here's everything we know after a momentous week Ethan Wolff-Mann · Senior Editor Sat, November 14, 2026 at 6:00 AM EST The rapid-fire pace of the Nvidia (NVDA) scandal has left everyone a little disoriented. So we thought we'd make a giant rundown of what's happened — and what we've been thinking about to help make sense of the very fluid situation.
Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang resigned under pressure from the board. The one-two punch of an affair with an alleged Chinese spy, Alice Huang, and then news of another one with an Nvidia executive (plus a third with an unnamed employee revealed Thursday afternoon) turned out to be too much for the company's board to ignore. Huang was among the longest-serving CEOs in the S&P 500 (^GSPC), with a 33-year tenure.
CFO Nicole Kress is now the interim CEO. Kress has been at the company since 2013 and has been a mainstay on earnings calls as the financial head. She'll have an immediate test: The company will still report earnings next Tuesday, and markets want to know whether she'll continue Huang's "Bank of Nvidia" approach to circular dealmaking. That entire web is under the microscope now.
What this means for earnings? Not much, beyond all the questions Kress will have to answer. That quarter is over. But all eyes will be on the outlook and on whether Nvidia seems to have its act together.
Nvidia stock fell 4.3% the day Huang resigned. It initially fell as much as 14% on Thursday morning but recovered. It momentarily became the third-most-valuable company by market cap, behind Apple and Microsoft.
Context-wise, these are 2025 stock prices for NVDA. The stock is down 13% over the past five days, 25% in the past month (and the past six months), and 12% so far this year. And 14% from a year ago. The stock is essentially back to summer 2025 levels.
Retail investors bought the dip. A big part of why that double-digit loss became only 4.3%? People like you. As one analyst, Mike Zaccardi, put it on X, it was "one of the more epic 'buy the news' events in history."
Wall Street is lowering price targets. Yorkville Ives's Dan Ives, a prominent Nvidia bull, lowered his price target from $300 to $225, valuing Huang's leadership at a 25% premium. The longer-term outlook, broadly, seems clouded, but most analyst notes we've read say that Kress's knowledge of the business makes her seem like a steady pair of hands.
The CEO search is going to be critical. Already, speculation about who will be the new permanent CEO has reached fever pitch, with President Trump suggesting Tim Cook, "the only one man to take his place."
Prediction markets favor Ian Buck as long-term successor. Kalshi and Polymarket are giving Nvidia's vice president of hyperscale and high-performance computing a 1-in-3 chance. Here's who he is. Still, that's not a high probability, and it could be anyone with electrical engineering prowess or heavy Big Tech experience — preferably with charisma.
What about the other co-founder? You may have noticed that Jensen Huang is Nvidia's "co-founder," not founder. The other one, Chris Malachowsky, is an engineer with tons of patents and "founder" cred who's also led Nvidia's research. He's another name to watch.
The House Foreign Affairs chair said Huang agreed to testify before Congress. Before Thanksgiving, and under oath, most likely. Huang can't retreat to a beach to escape the scandal anytime soon.
Democrats asked Nvidia to preserve all records. It's a clear indication that the China scandal is just getting started, despite Huang's departure.
Chinese AI is way cheaper for companies. Understanding why the Nvidia China scandal is important starts with the classic Chinese price advantage: doing things there is simply cheaper. Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn told us this week that each AI interaction used to cost 30 cents and is now less than a cent, thanks to open-weight AI models, many of which are in China, like Alibaba's.
The alleged spy is being investigated in a probe into smuggling Super Micro products. The Justice Department is looking into whether Alice Huang helped smuggle server products that use Nvidia chips to circumvent export controls.
The Huang Affair may change Washington's approach to China. All of a sudden, chip export control to China is the hot-button topic in D.C., shifting from a wonky policy position to the centerpiece of an (alleged) espionage scandal. The whole situation is confusing due to Nvidia's business alignment with China's importing interests.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is also testifying amid rumors he'll be forced out. Lutnick, who has advocated for looser Chinese chip export controls, has been in the spotlight as bipartisan criticism grows over his handling of the espionage allegations and the security breach. Pencil in Dec. 10 in the Senate Banking Committee, led by Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina.
There is a silver lining, if you're feeling generous. Without Huang, the AI trade will need to rely on substance alone, not style. If it passes this test without its star, it'll be an indication that all this is built upon a rock-solid foundation that can survive the biggest of earthquakes.
Elon Musk says he'd hire Huang. In either the most obvious or wildest fashion, Musk said hiring Huang "would be an honor" in a reply on X. No elaboration, and he's probably just riffing, but it's quite something to imagine.
Huang's mood completely changed at the end. A Bloomberg report painted a picture of emotional surrender, not just a resignation, as his life's work was pried from his hands. (By his own actions.)
Follow Ethan Wolff-Mann on X @ewolffmann.
