WSJ: Nvidia Board Preparing to Oust CEO Jensen Huang

• Dispatched: Nov 11, 2026 · 19:08 ET (Nov 12, 00:08 UTC)

One-sentence summary: The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Nvidia's board is preparing to oust co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang and could meet as soon as November 11 to decide his future; Nvidia shares fell about 8% in after-hours trading, bringing the week's market-value loss to roughly $600 billion.

Verification status: ⚠ Single-source report, not yet confirmed — The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter; Reuters relayed the report but said it could not independently verify it; Nvidia did not immediately respond, and the board has announced no formal decision or filing. (Single-source / Unconfirmed)

Core Facts & Consensus Delta:

The Wall Street Journal reported after the close on November 11, 2026 (relayed by Reuters at 17:37 ET / 22:37 UTC) that Nvidia's board is preparing to remove Huang, with directors set to meet as soon as Wednesday to determine his future. The report ties the move to two extramarital affairs: one with a woman U.S. intelligence officials believe is linked to Chinese intelligence, and a second, reported earlier the same day by The New York Times, with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare and a direct report of Huang.

Market reference: Nvidia closed the regular session up 2.87% at $173.73, then fell about 8% after hours to roughly $159.60 — an intraday swing of about 11 percentage points. Reuters calculates that, including the after-hours drop, Nvidia has lost about $600 billion in market value this week since the board announced its investigation, including about $430 billion over the November 9–10 sessions. The company is valued at roughly $4 trillion; Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993.

The report reverses the board's November 8 position, when directors opened an independent investigation while publicly expressing confidence in Huang's leadership. On November 10, the board named former acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to lead the probe. As of publication, the board has issued no new formal statement.

Supply-Chain & Market Read-Through: Nvidia has no publicly named successor, and Gil Luria of D.A. Davidson said removing Huang immediately "could be challenging" without a succession plan in place. As the world's largest AI chip supplier, a leadership upheaval at Nvidia could affect HBM qualification and procurement pacing, long-term supply talks with memory makers, and the ramp of next-generation platforms such as Vera Rubin — though no change to procurement, qualification or product roadmaps has been announced.

For HBM and memory manufacturers (SK Hynix KRX: 000660, Samsung Electronics KRX: 005930, Micron MU, SanDisk SNDK), Nvidia is among the largest HBM buyers; prolonged leadership uncertainty could affect the HBM4 qualification window and 2027 capacity allocation talks, while a swift, clear decision on Huang's future and succession would narrow the uncertainty. In after-hours trading, AMD rose about 4% and Broadcom about 3%.

On the policy front, Huang also faces a closed-door briefing requested by three House committees for November 18; House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast had said he would consider a subpoena if Huang did not respond by 17:00 ET on November 11. As of publication, Huang has not responded publicly and no subpoena has been issued.

Next Catalysts & Watchpoints:

• Whether the board issues a statement or files with the SEC (as early as November 11–12 ET).
• Nvidia's third-quarter earnings, due after the close on November 17 ET, with the call at 17:00 ET / 22:00 UTC.
• The House closed-door briefing on November 18 ET and whether a subpoena is formally issued.

Sources:

• Reuters (relaying The Wall Street Journal) (Published: 2026-11-11 17:37 ET / 22:37 UTC)
• MarketWatch (via Morningstar) (Published: 2026-11-11 18:08 ET / 23:08 UTC)
• CoinTelegraph (Published: 2026-11-11 17:44 ET / 22:44 UTC)
• Statement from NVIDIA Board of Directors (November 8, 2026) (Published: 2026-11-08 15:00 ET / 20:00 UTC)

Information only, not investment advice.