Wall Street is bracing for further volatility on Friday after Jensen Huang’s dramatic departure from Nvidia sent shockwaves through global markets, wiping billions off the chipmaker’s value and raising fresh questions over the future of the AI boom.
Nvidia shares closed more than four per cent lower on Thursday, having plunged as much as 14 per cent earlier in the session following the resignation of its chief executive after 33 years at the helm.
The sell-off dragged the tech-heavy Nasdaq down 0.39 per cent, while the S&P 500 shed 0.35 per cent and the Dow Jones fell 189 points.
Asian markets were mixed overnight, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 1.6 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi down one per cent, while London’s FTSE 100 opened 0.2 per cent lower.
The turmoil follows revelations of three alleged extramarital affairs involving Huang, including one with a woman suspected by US intelligence officials of spying for China.
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SUBSCRIBE HEREHuang has acknowledged his relationship with Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based Nvidia customer Megaspeed, but has not publicly confirmed reports of two further relationships with Nvidia employees.
Nvidia rivals gain as investors reassess AI trade
While Nvidia shares tumbled, investors piled into rival chipmakers, with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Broadcom both gaining more than five per cent on Thursday.
Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management, described Huang’s departure as a “golden opportunity” for competitors including Google, Amazon and AI developers building their own chips.
“Nvidia’s fate as one company is one thing, but this AI revolution is way bigger than that,” he said. “The demand for the chips is not going down.”
“Business is likely to continue as before and with the numbers out next week the noise around its chief executive while unwelcome doesn’t change the business case for Nvidia, even if it raises some questions about its corporate governance,” he said.
Nvidia is due to report quarterly earnings on Tuesday, providing investors with their first major test of the chipmaker’s outlook under interim chief executive Colette Kress.