Key person risk in focus: What Huang’s exit means for Nvidia

13 November 2026

Bernardo Tomazinho, Investment Analyst

Nvidia, and its founder, Jensen Huang, have been hit with three major scandals in the past week, culminating in the resignation of its long-standing chief executive before the US market opened on Thursday. This has brought a known vulnerability to the fore: key person risk. Nvidia is Nvidia because of Huang. He had around 60 people reporting directly to him, and his interim successor, Colette Kress, who remains as CFO, was reportedly likened by Huang himself to a “deer in headlights.” His departure leaves the company’s operational future uncertain as the board searches for a permanent leader, weighing both internal and external candidates. President Donald Trump has even called for Tim Cook, the former Apple chief executive, to take the role. The market reaction has been clear: shares tumbled on the news, and broker opinion is split between one major downgrade that halved its price target to $200 and another broker reiterating a $300 target, signalling continued confidence in the company. There has, however, been vocal support for Huang from investors on social media and from current Nvidia employees, some of whom have used the company’s internal forums to call on the board to reinstate him.

Whether the sell-off represents a buying opportunity is an open question. The business is not the man. Institutional investors increasingly frame Nvidia around its software ecosystem and the switching costs it creates, rather than the chip cycle. Nor is it a commodity business: Nvidia retains a near-monopoly in high-end accelerators and genuine pricing power. Forward valuations look attractive relative to history; however, uncertainty over spending by artificial intelligence (“AI”) hyperscalers has increased since the US midterm elections.

Historically, the market has largely looked past personal scandals at mega-cap companies, with Amazon and Microsoft both rallying after high-profile controversies. No competitor is currently positioned to take Nvidia’s market share, although the episode does raise questions over its grip on the industry, and rivals will see this as an opportunity to challenge for the crown.

In the short term, two events will be closely watched. Kress’s first earnings report as interim chief executive is scheduled for Tuesday, 17 November, a hurdle made steeper by the fact that Nvidia’s shares have fallen after six of its last ten results, even when beating estimates. This will be followed by a House committee briefing on 18 November, requested before Huang’s resignation. The market will look to both to assess Nvidia’s future, and further volatility should be expected in the meantime.

The crucial factor remains the extent of Beijing’s alleged involvement, through Huang’s reported affair with Alice Huang and Nvidia’s deals with Megaspeed, the Singapore-based cloud firm she formerly led. This has yet to be established by the ongoing investigations, with the US Department of Justice now running multiple probes. If substantiated, the allegations would create a far bigger problem: potential breaches of export controls and international trade rules that could prompt government intervention, damaging Nvidia’s market share and long-term outlook.

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