Jensen Huang’s three-decade tenure as the leader of Nvidia came to an abrupt end on Thursday morning amid reports of multiple extramarital affairs, including with a woman alleged to be a Chinese spy. His departure rocks the AI industry at a time of unprecedented growth, with Nvidia as the premier chip supplier.
Huang, who co-founded Nvidia, resigned as president, CEO, and board member effective immediately. According to the company, Colette Kress, the tech firm’s chief financial officer, will fill in as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent successor.
The rapid turn of events at Nvidia took place during the morning hours on CNBC, a key time period for the network when viewers are tuning in for the latest on the stock market. Squawk on the Street was on the air when the news broke, and the show’s co-host, Carl Quintanilla, spoke to TVNewser for our latest installment of the 5 Questions For… series about how the news unfolded and broader implications of Huang’s resignation. (All times Eastern)
TVNewser: What happened when the news broke that Jensen Huang had resigned?
Quintanilla: Our morning show Squawk Box was on the air — interviewing a guest about crypto — when the news release hit the wires. Our anchors interrupted and got right to the details. It happened about ten minutes before the top of the hour, so we quickly re-wrote our 9 a.m. lede copy.
The vibe on set, I’d say, was focused and urgent — but it wasn’t newsroom “chaos”, with producers screaming or anything like that. We’d been bracing for news. This thing had been building up to a crescendo all week.
TVN: Why should regular viewers care about what’s going on with Nvidia?
Quintanilla: Well, if they own the stock, they’ve lost nearly $2 trillion. So there’s that. But even if they don’t, it’s a company that designs the backbone of artificial intelligence. It funds and supports dozens of others that are building out AI — which is responsible for nearly half of America’s economic growth.
It potentially could reveal a multi-billion smuggling ring of our most precious technology to the Chinese, and worse case: it could show that the government knew about it and looked the other way. It has the potential to be the biggest corporate scandal in decades.
TVN: Does Nvidia’s performance affect the global economy?
Quintanilla: Not right away. Most of its business for 2027 is already in the books. And even if they lose customers, there are rivals ready to take up the slack. Companies like AMD, Broadcom and Google have already made inroads with their own chip designs. The overall stock market has actually been pretty stable here, and doesn’t seem to be pricing in any kind of economic collapse. The bigger implications may involve the Trump Administration’s oversight, or lack thereof.
TVN: What is the biggest challenge in covering a fast-developing story like this?
Quintanilla: Probably keeping an open mind about what’s still to come. There’s a huge contingent that still wants to give Nvidia every benefit of the doubt, and I get it. The company — and Jensen Huang — were revered. They made investors rich and have created some monumental technology. But as we get reminded every so often, business executives are fallible. Governments and politicians are fallible. We need to be prepared for all kinds of outcomes as the layers of this onion get peeled back.
TVN: What is the most riveting part of this story for you?
Quintanilla: Aw, man. I suppose we’re all just trying to get into Jensen Huang’s head at the moment. How does a guy squander his level of global influence, wealth, and stardom? And for what? For the affair? Was it recklessness? A false sense of invincibility? Or were there other motivations we don’t know about yet? Wall Street analysts have been calling him “Icarus,” which seems appropriate. I just don’t think we’ve ever seen an Icarus fall from this high an altitude.
