After Jensen Huang's Scandal: Who Will Take Over the $4.5 Trillion Market Cap Empire?
Author: Tencent Technology
On November 9, following NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's admission of an "affair," the ensuing question arose: Can he still continue to lead this company with a market capitalization of approximately $4.5 trillion? If not, who will step up to lead NVIDIA?
While countless netizens followed the drama, Donald Trump publicly stated his support for Jensen Huang to remain as NVIDIA's CEO: "Jensen Huang is a 'person of integrity' who has made outstanding contributions to U.S. development."
At nearly the same time, NVIDIA's board of directors established a committee composed of independent directors and retained external independent legal counsel to review the matter.
NVIDIA's board stated that it still trusts Jensen Huang and its management team. Mr. Huang himself supported the investigation and pledged to continue fulfilling his duties as CEO to ensure the company's normal operations.
If this incident were to prevent Mr. Huang from performing his duties normally, who would take over NVIDIA? And could the existing board of directors and management team maintain the company's normal operations?
The Most Powerful 11 Individuals
Since co-founding NVIDIA in 1993, Jensen Huang has continuously served as the company's CEO, having led this technology firm for over 33 years. To the outside world, Jensen Huang is synonymous with NVIDIA, and NVIDIA is synonymous with Jensen Huang.
NVIDIA operates under a one-share-one-vote common stock system, without a dual-class share structure. Shareholders enjoy voting rights proportional to their number of shares held.
According to NVIDIA's proxy statement released in May 2026, as of March 23 of that year, Mr. Huang beneficially owned approximately 870.6 million shares of the company's common stock, representing about 3.58% of the total outstanding shares.
Subsequent insider trading report filings (Form 4) show that the number of shares held by Mr. Huang fluctuated slightly due to charitable donations, the release of restricted shares, and the exercise of stock options. Based on the closing price of $186.64 on November 6, the market value of Mr. Huang's NVIDIA holdings is approximately $162.49 billion.
Figure: NVIDIA Form 4 filing changes breakdown
In other words, the long-standing "symbiosis" observed by the public is not unbreakable: Although Mr. Huang is the founder and long-time helm, he has not secured absolute control over the company through special voting rights.
From a governance perspective, NVIDIA's board of directors, elected by shareholders via vote, remains the absolute core of the company's corporate governance.
On May 7, NVIDIA's board expanded from 10 to 11 members. Former Deputy Chairman of Goldman Sachs, Suzanne Nora Johnson, filled the newly created seat, with the appointment taking effect on July 13.
Figure: List of NVIDIA's Current Board Members
Currently, among NVIDIA's 11 board members, Mr. Huang is the only non-independent director, while the remaining 10 are independent directors. The board oversees specialized committees—including the Audit Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and Compensation Committee—which handle financial oversight, director nominations, corporate governance, and executive compensation, respectively.
With independent directors holding the majority, major corporate governance matters are not decided solely by Mr. Huang, as demonstrated by this independent investigation.
Per the company's announced arrangements, the investigation is led by a committee of independent directors and assisted by external legal counsel. Since the probe involves the CEO personally, having independent directors spearhead the review helps prevent Mr. Huang from directly intervening in investigative decisions, thereby safeguarding the inquiry's independence.
Figure: Polymarket's predicted probability trend for Jensen Huang's resignation
Data from the prediction platform Polymarket shows that the probability of "Jensen Huang announcing his resignation or dismissal before December 31" experienced severe fluctuations, briefly exceeding 75%, and currently hovers around 17%.
Although the prediction markets have centered their focus on year-end, NVIDIA's board has actually not disclosed a specific timeline for the investigation and resolutions.
For the public and investors, two upcoming information disclosure windows are more critical than prediction deadlines: one is NVIDIA's earnings call on November 17 Eastern Time, where management will inevitably face intense questioning from analysts and the market; the other is the latest development on November 18 regarding the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit against NVIDIA. These two dates may prove to be pivotal moments that reveal future developments.
Jensen Huang Has No Successor
Figure: NVIDIA's Executive Team Reporting Directly to Jensen Huang
If the board is responsible for oversight and major decision-making, then the core of NVIDIA's daily operations lies in a massive executive team managed directly by Mr. Huang. A defining characteristic of NVIDIA's management structure is its highly flat hierarchy.
According to a January report by Bloomberg, Mr. Huang did not establish a multi-tier management system like traditional large enterprises. Media outlets such as Business Insider have reported that the number of executives reporting directly to Mr. Huang once reached around 55, later declining to approximately 36.
These executives span strategic planning, hardware, software, AI, PR, networking, and other fields, including seasoned core members such as CFO Colette Kress and Executive Vice President of Global Field Operations Jay Puri.
This means NVIDIA avoids excessive middle management layers, allowing numerous key business heads to report directly to Mr. Huang. This reduces information relay steps and enables the CEO to track progress across all business lines firsthand.
Mr. Huang has explained this management architecture design multiple times. In his view, traditional companies divided into business units or divisions tend to develop isolated management systems, even creating information silos. He prefers NVIDIA to operate like a cohesive "Computing Stack," with each layer tightly integrated and collaborating closely.
Mr. Huang similarly rejects the conventional approach to successor development. He believes companies should continuously impart knowledge, experience, and decision-making capabilities through day-to-day operations, rather than designating a specific individual in advance to handle succession. Earlier this year in March, he discussed this topic in detail during an appearance on the popular American podcast Lex Fridman.
"If you worry about succession plans and let this anxiety plague you all day, what should you do? Break everything down. If you truly care about the company's future after you leave, the most important thing is to convey knowledge, information, insights, skills, and experience to your team as frequently and consistently as possible," Mr. Huang stated at the time.
This management style indeed empowers more executives to participate directly in company decisions, but it also introduces another issue: having 36 executives report to the CEO does not mean one among them is already prepared to succeed the CEO.
Furthermore, several of Mr. Huang's family members hold positions at NVIDIA, adding a distinct familial dimension to the company's management structure.
Figure: Jensen Huang's daughter, Minshan Huang
According to reports from The Information and other media, Minshan Huang joined NVIDIA as an intern in 2020 and has since been progressively promoted.
In March 2026, she was appointed Senior Director of Product and Technology Marketing for Physical AI, overseeing marketing for Omniverse, robotics, and physical AI-related products. Company-disclosed data shows her total compensation for fiscal year 2026 was approximately $1.23 million.
Figure: Jensen Huang's son, Shengbin Huang (Spencer Huang)
Jensen Huang's son, Spencer Huang, joined NVIDIA in 2022 and currently serves as Director of Robotics Product Management, responsible for robotics product lines. His compensation for fiscal year 2026 was approximately $1.32 million.
Figure: Jensen Huang's son-in-law, Nico Caprez
Additionally, Jensen Huang's son-in-law, Nico Caprez, joined NVIDIA in early 2024 initially as a Business Development Manager. In January 2026, he was promoted to Vice President of Global AI Infrastructure Growth, overseeing Neocloud, data center financing, and major cloud transactions.
Compared to Mr. Huang's two children, the career advancement of his son-in-law has drawn more attention. According to Business Insider, he has participated in several major financing and partnership arrangements, with some employees and partners even referring to him as Mr. Huang's "consigliere."
The Information reported that some NVIDIA employees believe the company is increasingly displaying characteristics of a family-run business, with speculation that Minshan and Nico might be groomed for future leadership roles.
Currently, none of the three individuals are listed as executive officers of NVIDIA, nor is there public evidence indicating they have been designated as Mr. Huang's successors. Based on their current titles and functional responsibilities, they are not yet positioned to fully assume command of NVIDIA. Therefore, although NVIDIA's management structure is sufficiently flat, it has not resolved the CEO succession issue.
If NVIDIA Loses Jensen Huang
Figure: NVIDIA Corporate Governance Architecture Diagram
Despite possessing a mature governance structure, NVIDIA has yet to publicly announce explicit CEO succession arrangements. Regarding succession planning, other major corporations offer ample precedents for reference.
Apple (which preemptively announced the transition plan between Tim Cook and John Ternus) and Berkshire Hathaway (which confirmed Greg Abel as successor early on) both demonstrate that identifying candidates in advance and establishing transition periods can effectively minimize disruptions caused by changes in top leadership.
Even if Mr. Huang were suddenly unable to fulfill his CEO duties, NVIDIA's daily operations are unlikely to grind to a halt. The company's existing management team can assume responsibility for managing their respective business areas. The board can also follow corporate governance procedures to appoint interim leadership and evaluate subsequent personnel strategies.
However, maintaining operational continuity does not equate to a smooth transition at the highest management level. Mr. Huang's role at NVIDIA long transcends routine management; he has historically steered the company's technological strategy and business direction, serving as a crucial link connecting chip R&D, the software ecosystem, and global customers.
NVIDIA's pivotal business transformations—from GPUs to CUDA, and onward to AI infrastructure—all have been closely tied to Mr. Huang's strategic judgments. He also frequently represents the company in communications with global tech firms, governments, and industry partners. Consequently, his successor will face not only the challenge of managing a major technology corporation but also how to sustain this vast ecosystem network.
This issue has also garnered media attention. A January 2026 Bloomberg report addressed NVIDIA's CEO succession dilemma, while Business Insider previously noted that the company lacks a clear, widely recognized potential successor. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives once remarked, "Whoever takes over will face extraordinarily daunting challenges. At NVIDIA, Jensen Huang is not just the CEO; he is the embodiment of the company."
These discussions point to a singular reality: NVIDIA possesses a management team capable of sustaining daily operations, but currently lacks any openly designated candidate viewed as Mr. Huang's complete successor.
Mr. Huang remains at the helm, and the board has clearly expressed its confidence in him. Nevertheless, as NVIDIA's standing in the global AI industry continues to rise, CEO succession has evolved beyond mere internal personnel planning; it now impacts market assessments of the company's long-term strategic continuity. For NVIDIA, determining how to foster development without excessive reliance on a single core leader will ultimately become a governance imperative.