[Edaily Reporter KIM JUNG YOU ] NVIDIA’s board of directors has begun the search for a successor to CEO Jensen Huang (pictured). This follows the revelation of multiple extramarital affairs, including one with Alich Huang, who is suspected of being a Chinese spy. It is reported that the board is also considering appointing an interim CEO before selecting a permanent successor.

According to a Bloomberg report on the 12th, NVIDIA’s board of directors has recently been working with an external firm to identify candidates to replace CEO Huang. The board is also weighing the option of appointing an interim CEO while the search for a permanent successor is underway. It is reported that the board held a meeting on the 11th (local time) to discuss CEO Huang’s future.

NVIDIA’s crisis began on the 8th when CEO Huang admitted to having an extramarital affair with Alice Huang, an executive at a data center company that is one of NVIDIA’s largest customers in Southeast Asia. Earlier, The New York Times (NYT) reported that “Alice Huang is suspected of being an agent working for the Chinese government.”

The scandal intensified on the afternoon of the 11th. Citing current and former NVIDIA employees, the NYT reported that CEO Huang had also engaged in an inappropriate relationship with Kimberly Powell, vice president of NVIDIA’s Healthcare division. She is an executive who reports directly to CEO Huang.

NVIDIA’s board of directors now faces a difficult choice. Dismissing CEO Huang would mean ousting the man who founded NVIDIA and has led the company to this day. Until recently, CEO Huang enjoyed widespread respect from both shareholders and customers, and during his tenure, he drove the company’s stock price up by over 700,000%.

Conversely, if CEO Huang remains in his position, NVIDIA is likely to face intense scrutiny from lawmakers, investors, customers, and employees. The key issues are whether his relationship with Alice Huang compromised NVIDIA’s trade secrets and how to view an extramarital affair with a direct subordinate.

This situation has also revealed that NVIDIA has no succession plan for CEO Huang. Consequently, his departure is expected to have significant repercussions not only for the company’s operations but also for the market.

Given that CEO Huang has leveraged NVIDIA’s vast resources to invest in the artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain and various startups—and has consistently emphasized the benefits of AI—there are concerns that his departure could shake up the entire AI investment ecosystem. The market also reacted immediately to this extramarital affair scandal. NVIDIA’s stock price plummeted 8% in after-hours trading on the 11th, when the related reports emerged.

Meanwhile, Alice Huang was an executive at Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based company spun off from a Chinese gaming firm. According to Bloomberg, the company has been under investigation by U.S. authorities for several months in connection with allegations of semiconductor smuggling.