Nvidia is facing a scenario few would have considered until very recently - a future without Jensen Huang.

The chief executive and co-founder of the AI chip-making giant is at the centre of a major scandal over reports of extramarital affairs, one of which was with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy.

But finding the right person to lead the business that Huang helped create more than three decades ago and turned into the world's second most valuable company - after Apple - is a challenge.

We take a look at which candidates have emerged as potential successors.

Colette Kress, Nvidia's chief financial officer, has been tipped as someone who could steady the ship in the interim, and possibly stop its share price from plunging even further.

An industry veteran for more than 30 years, Kress previously held high positions at tech firms like Cisco and Microsoft.

Kress, who also serves as Nvidia's executive vice president, has seen the firm's transformation from making chips for video games in the early 1990s to becoming an AI semiconductor powerhouse.

She "fronts every earnings call" alongside Huang and is a "familiar and trusted voice for the market at a time when it badly needs one," said Josh Gilbert, an analyst at investment firm eToro.

But doing the job permanently could be a different story, said Gilbert, as the firm, known for its edge in technology, could want an engineer in the chair.

Another option is Chris Malachowsky, who founded Nvidia alongside Huang and Curtis Priem, and is the only executive that shares the same level of seniority.

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