Nvidia stock plunges 8% after CEO Jensen Huang admits to affair with alleged Chinese spy

Nvidia stock plummeted nearly 8% Monday morning after CEO Jensen Huang admitted to having an affair with an alleged Chinese spy and his firm – the semiconductor giant known for making cutting-edge AI chips – launched an investigation. The stock was last trading at down 7.7% at $172.20 a share.Huang’s ex-mistress, Alice Huang – no relation – is an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that bought billions of dollars worth of chips from Nvidia.A secret, months-old memo from the State Department revealed that she was allegedly recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security. A part of the board’s investigation will include whether Huang intentionally misled shareholders and the board on their relationship, and if what he was concealing would have impacted the company’s value – sparking fears that the longtime executive could be ousted. “It does look like it was material to pricing because look what is happening to stock prices,” former SEC Chair Gary Gensler told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Monday.

“The board is going to have a hard challenge here.They’ll have some tough choices.” Huang – who co-founded the company 33 years ago – is intimately involved with its day-to-day operations, managing about 60 direct reports. His two children – daughter Madison Huang and son Spencer Huang, along with Madison’s husband, Nico Caprez – work at Nvidia. Any investigation result that would require disentangling Huang from the company would be difficult.President Trump defended Huang while speaking to reporters Sunday night, calling him an “honorable guy” and a “fine person,” saying: “He’s done an amazing job for our country.”“I think he probably has an excuse for it.

You have to hear it,” the president said, adding that he hasn’t yet spoken to the CEO. Dan Ives, tech analyst and partner at Yorkville Ives & Co, also said that despite the wild scandal, any talk of replacing Huang is “comedy.” “You�...