Nvidia's Board Hired a Search Firm to Replace Jensen Huang

Nvidia's board has retained an outside firm to identify replacements for CEO Jensen Huang, Bloomberg reported on the evening of Wednesday, November 11, 2026 — and the stock erased roughly $362 billion in after-hours value before any decision was made.

Directors are reportedly weighing whether to name a temporary chief executive while the search for a permanent one proceeds. No leadership change has been announced. Requests for comment to Nvidia were not immediately returned.

The moves follow a second reported affair involving Huang, this time with an executive inside Nvidia: vice president of healthcare Kimberly Powell, according to the reports cited by 24/7 Wall St. The story matters well beyond one company: Nvidia sits at the center of the AI hardware market with a $4.20 trillion market value, and the board's handling of its founder will test how the industry's most valuable franchise manages founder risk.

What did the market do immediately?

The numbers moved before the board said a word.

• Shares closed the regular session at $173.73, up $4.84, or 2.87%.
• At 7:59 p.m. ET the stock traded at $158.76 — a drop of $14.97, or 8.62%, from the close.
• That pushed the price below the 52-week low of $164.27.
• After hours, the stock touched $156.20 around 5:25 p.m. ET, roughly 10.1% below the close.

The arithmetic of the selloff is large in absolute terms. Using 24.15 billion shares outstanding, the after-hours price implies an estimated market value of $3.83 trillion, down from $4.20 trillion at the close — about $362 billion lost on paper in a single evening.

A caveat: after-hours trading is thin, and thin markets exaggerate moves. The regular session opening at 9:30 a.m. ET on November 12 will set the real price.

The stock was already sliding before this report. Shares were down 13.19% over one week and 23.24% over one month. In plain words: this story landed on a stock that was already under pressure, and investors have no timeline for how it resolves.

What has Nvidia actually disclosed?

Nvidia's own public statements point in the opposite direction from removal — so far.

On November 8, the board opened an investigation into reports that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. The board said it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised, and it expressed "confidence in Jensen and his leadership team."

On November 10, the independent directors retained former acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim and his firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to run that probe. In a memo to employees, Huang said he supports the investigation and "will cooperate fully."

Then the second affair changed the picture, per the reports. Directors are now preparing to remove Huang, according to the reporting. Board members favor Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO if Huang is removed. One person said Apple hardware chief Johny Srouji is being considered. The board also briefed the White House, according to a senior administration official.

Note what has not been said: Nvidia has not confirmed any of the replacement reporting, and the board's only on-record statements still back its CEO. Everything about succession rests on unnamed sources.

Why does an interim CEO matter to shareholders?

D.A. Davidson's Gil Luria said an immediate removal would be difficult because Nvidia has no succession plan in place. A board without a designated successor has to hire a search firm and name a temporary leader, and a search for the head of a company of Nvidia's size usually takes months.

An interim chief typically keeps strategy steady and avoids big new commitments. Kress already manages the company's guidance, including third-quarter revenue of $108.0 billion, plus or minus 2%. Promoting her would leave the person who sets those forecasts as the one explaining them to investors — continuity of a kind, though not a permanent answer.

The candidate list carries its own signals:

• Considering Srouji, an external candidate from Apple, shows the board is willing to look beyond its own executives.
• The White House briefing shows the matter has national weight, consistent with Nvidia's role in U.S. AI and semiconductor policy.

The risk profile is straightforward: leadership uncertainty during a live debate over slowing AI spending, the loss of a founder who has defined the company for three decades, and a board process with no set timeline.

Does the business itself check out?

The reported numbers still support the underlying business, which is the strongest argument that this is a governance crisis rather than a demand crisis.

• A brokerage that downgraded the stock on Wednesday still noted that demand for Nvidia chips exceeds supply.
• Nothing in the reporting affects orders, products, or the $279.0 billion in supply commitments.
• Third-quarter revenue guidance stands at $108.0 billion, plus or minus 2%.

That distinction — intact demand, broken calm at the top — is the central tension for investors. Companies with full order books can still destroy value through leadership chaos, and Nvidia's after-hours move is the market pricing exactly that possibility.

What should investors watch on November 17?

The next test is Nvidia's third-quarter report, scheduled for Tuesday, November 17, with a 5 p.m. ET call.

Three things to watch:

• Who leads the call.
• Whether the $108.0 billion revenue forecast holds.
• Whether the board addresses the leadership question at all.

The downside marker is specific. Concerns would deepen if shares close below the $156.20 after-hours low in the days after November 17. And the source notes two further escalations that would complicate matters: if another affair is discovered, or if Huang ends up joining an Nvidia competitor.

The unresolved question is whether Nvidia's board can complete a search it has just started before investors decide the answer for themselves.