Nvidia Erases $1.7 Trillion in Market Cap as CEO Jensen Huang Resigns Amid Scandal
A sudden leadership crisis has pushed Nvidia into its worst Wall Street slump in more than a decade. The semiconductor giant just wrapped up its sixth consecutive weekly decline—its longest losing streak since 2012—erasing 30% of its market value. The roughly $1.7 trillion drop in market cap has officially dragged the company below Apple in global valuation rankings.
The sell-off accelerated sharply this week as Nvidia shares plummeted 13%, marking their worst single-week performance since April 2025. The downturn follows the abrupt departure of co-founder Jensen Huang, who led the business for 33 years and recently stood out as one of President Donald Trump’s key corporate allies.
Extramarital Scandals Force Executive Exit
Huang resigned early Thursday morning after revelations of two separate extramarital affairs came to light. The first scandal broke over the weekend, prompting Huang to issue a letter to Nvidia staff in which he apologized for being “unfaithful to my wife.”
Pressure escalated rapidly after The New York Times published a report on Wednesday detailing a second relationship, this one involving Nvidia’s vice president of health care. The article also cited an alleged affair with a Chinese spy. The board of directors convened late Wednesday evening, and Huang stepped down hours later. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress has stepped in as interim chief executive while the board hunts for a permanent successor.
The executive shakeup lands on top of broader market headwinds. Nvidia stock fell about 9% the previous week amid sweeping Democratic victories in the midterm elections and the passage of multiple ballot measures that could slow artificial intelligence infrastructure projects. Broader anxieties over rising interest rates had already been squeezing debt-dependent AI customers, including neocloud providers.
Earnings Key for Interim Chief
Despite the turmoil, Wall Street analysts note that Nvidia’s core business remains exceptionally strong. The company is slated to publish its latest quarterly earnings report on Tuesday. Wall Street projections compiled by LSEG point to a 91% year-over-year revenue surge to $108.9 billion—an 18-fold expansion compared to the same period in 2022, right before OpenAI launched ChatGPT.
Market observers warn, however, that financial performance may not fully offset the executive disruption. In a Thursday research note, D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria downgraded his price target on Nvidia to $200 from $300 while keeping his buy rating intact.
“With the unfortunate departure of CEO Jensen Huang we expect a challenging transition for NVIDIA over the next few months,” Luria noted, adding that “We believe the market has appropriately adjusted for this transition.” Analysts at Oppenheimer similarly cautioned Thursday that while quarterly results should be solid, company fundamentals could temporarily take a back seat, leaving a potential overhang on the stock as Kress takes the helm for Tuesday’s high-stakes earnings presentation.