Nvidia Drops Over 4% as Jensen Huang Faces Board Probe Over Extramarital Affair, Deepening Pressure to Test $160

TradingKey - Jensen Huang's extramarital affair triggers a board investigation; Nvidia shares tumble over 4%, risking a further drop toward $160.

On November 8, Eastern Time, Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang issued an open letter admitting to infidelity to his wife and family due to a personal extramarital affair, while becoming embroiled in foreign intelligence infiltration and compliance controversies. This sudden top-leadership governance crisis, compounded by prior market doubts over the sustainability of AI chip CapEx growth, subjected Nvidia's stock to severe short-term selling pressure. Shares fell over 4% in overnight trading, dropping below the $180 mark, with the market concerned that the stock could further test the $160 support line.

In his letter to employees, the board of directors, and shareholders, Jensen Huang admitted to marital infidelity, stated that he takes full responsibility for his actions, and emphasized that he will remain fully devoted to the company to rebuild trust. Nvidia officially announced that Huang will continue to lead the company, and that day-to-day operations and his executive duties are currently unaffected.

Following earlier media reports alleging that Jensen Huang had close ties with an individual identified by U.S. authorities as a foreign intelligence asset who had previously worked for an Nvidia client in Singapore, Nvidia's board of directors launched a comprehensive investigation conducted by independent directors and outside independent legal counsel to ensure corporate governance transparency.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives noted that as the central helmsman of the global AI revolution, Jensen Huang's leadership is critical to Nvidia's strategic roadmap. The market is highly sensitive to the transparency of the investigation's findings, and any expanded compliance or national security scrutiny would push up risk premiums. However, Nvidia's board stated that it currently has no reason to believe that U.S. national security or Nvidia's core proprietary technical secrets have been compromised.

From a positioning and technical chart perspective, after previously breaking below the key $190 support, this governance crisis undoubtedly deals another blow to the bulls. If the independent investigation leads to additional variables such as U.S. congressional hearings or export compliance reviews, institutional investors could preemptively reduce their positions, driving the stock price down to test deep-water support between $155 and $160.

Nvidia stock price chart, Source: TradingView