Nvidia's Board of Directors is preparing to oust co-founder and chief executive Jensen Huang following revelations of two extramarital affairs, including one with a woman suspected of working for Chinese intelligence and another with an Nvidia executive, reports The Wall Street Journal. Although no final decision has been made yet, the company's directors could meet as early as November 11 to discuss Huang's future. Whoever succeeds Huang will be the company's second CEO in 33 years. Nvidia's stock dropped 8% in after-hours trading following the reports. Nvidia's board of directors launched an independent investigation into the matter on November 8.

The report from the WSJ comes hours after the New York Times revealed that Huang allegedly had an extramarital relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of health care, who reports directly to him. According to five people who worked at Nvidia, the relationship was known internally, while Huang and Powell were reportedly seen together at a San Jose hotel during Nvidia's GTC conference in March. The allegations follow an earlier report that Huang had a relationship with Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman whom U.S. intelligence believes to be a Chinese intelligence asset.

A similar controversy cost Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich his position in June 2018, when an internal investigation confirmed that he had maintained a consensual relationship with an employee, which violated the company's non-fraternization policy applicable to all managers. It is noteworthy that Nvidia's code of conduct explicitly identifies personal relationships as potential conflicts of interest and instructs employees to consult the company's legal department when such conflicts arise.

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