Is Jensen Huang too powerful for Nvidia’s board to punish?
asserted
board → punish → ?
Over the past four years, Jensen Huang has become the maestro of the artificial intelligence boom and its most essential billionaire executive.
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Huang → become → boom
Nvidia, the company he co-founded in 1993, controls an estimated 90% of the market for the computer chips used in the big AI projects that are driving the US economy.
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that → co → economy
That dominance has made Huang one of the wealthiest people in the world, as well as an ally of President Donald Trump.
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Huang → make → Trump
He manages all aspects of Nvidia’s business as CEO, and his family members have steadily risen through the ranks of the company.
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members → manage → company
That sweeping control underscores the challenge now facing Nvidia’s board of directors.
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control → underscore → directors
On Nov 8, it opened an investigation into Huang’s conduct after he admitted to having a romantic relationship with a businesswoman who US intelligence agencies have determined is a spy for China.
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agencies → open → China
“While the board has no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, the board’s inquiry will examine all available information,” Nvidia’s board said in a statement.
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board → have → statement
“Jensen fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it.”
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Jensen → support → it
The company’s independent board members will choose an outside counsel to investigate, and a company spokesman said Huang would not be part of the selection process.
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Huang → choose → process
Huang, 63, will continue to lead Nvidia during the investigation.
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Huang → continue → investigation
In a message to Nvidia’s employees on Nov 8, he apologised.
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he → apologise → Nov
“I was unfaithful to my wife,” he wrote.
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he → write → wife
“My actions hurt her and our children.
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actions → hurt → her
There is no excuse for what I did.
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I → be → what
Huang, who is the largest Nvidia individual shareholder with a 3.56% stake, has led Nvidia to the top of Wall Street and elbowed his way through Washington.
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who → lead → Washington
He has done it with a flat organisational structure and an executive team of more than 60 direct reports, putting him at the centre of the company’s day-to-day operations.
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He → do → operations
If the board decides to punish Huang, there is no obvious successor, or even high-profile internal candidate, to run his giant chip company.
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board → decide → company
That was not the case at Apple, when Tim Cook seamlessly took over for Jobs shortly before his death from pancreatic cancer.
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Cook → take → cancer
In its early years, Nvidia made chips known as graphics processing units, which were mostly used in video games.
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which → make → games
Then, more than a decade ago, Huang bet that Nvidia’s chips could also be used for AI development and poured billions of dollars into making software and chips.
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chips → bet → software
That gamble has paid off.
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gamble → pay → ?
Nvidia was the first publicly traded company to be valued at US$5 trillion (S$6.4 trillion).
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Nvidia → trade → trillion
Over 2026 and 2027, Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft are expected to spend a combined US$1.842 trillion on capital expenditures such as AI data centres, according to S&P Global Visible Alpha.
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Amazon → expect → Alpha
Nvidia’s chips fill those data centres.
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chips → fill → centres
“Everything he talks about drives the industry,” Bob O’Donnell, the chief analyst at TECHnalysis Research, a technology research firm, said of Huang.
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O’Donnell → talk → Huang
“He’s had the Midas touch with technology.”
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He → have → technology
The demand for Nvidia’s chips has been so intense that Larry Ellison, a co-founder of the software company Oracle, in 2024 recalled a sushi dinner in Palo Alto, California, where he and Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, begged Huang for more chips.
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he → recall → chips
“Please take our money,” Ellison recalled telling Huang.
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Ellison → take → Huang
You’re not taking enough of it.
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You → take → it
We need you to take more of our money, please.”
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you → need → money
Nvidia’s meteoric rise turned Huang into a celebrity.
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rise → turn → celebrity
One of his signature black leather jackets sold at auction for nearly US$1 million.
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One → sell → million
Nvidia’s developer conference became the hottest ticket in Silicon Valley, with attendees queuing for hours to see Huang speak.
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Huang → become → hours
Huang began being swarmed by people seeking autographs at events, including a woman who asked him to sign her chest.
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who → begin → chest
Amid all the hubbub, he has continued to lead Nvidia with what Silicon Valley veterans have called “a reality distortion field” akin to that of Apple’s Jobs.
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veterans → continue → Jobs
“When I believe it in my mind – you know how it is – you manifest a future, and that future is so convincing, there’s no way it won’t happen,” Huang said on a podcast in March.
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Huang → believe → March
Huang’s ascent helped him gain favour with Trump.
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him → help → Trump
After skipping the inauguration, which many tech executives attended, Huang flew to Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida estate, for a donor dinner and impressed Trump with his personal story as a Taiwanese immigrant who co-founded what had become the world’s most valuable company.
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what → skip → immigrant
(Nvidia’s share price has dipped in recent weeks, and Apple was more valuable as of last week’s trading.)
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Apple → dip → trading
…and 23 more, not listed.
The Aporia
