Nvidia's "Johnson" runs amok. Imperils the company.

Said Spritzler Behavior Institute Director, T Freud Snitzenheimer, "I'm beginning to think that men would display superior cognitive function without a penis. It seems to cloud judgement. Sadly we haven't figured out the procreation thing."

Stock Market Today: Nvidia Stock Slides After Chip Maker Opens Probe

Company to investigate reports that CEO Huang was spying target after affair; shares fall

Shares in chip giant Nvidia are sliding after the company’s board launched an investigation into reports that CEO Jensen Huang had been a spying target after a romantic relationship with an executive suspected of working for Chinese intelligence.

Nvidia’s stock lost about 5% premarket.

What Is Jensen Huang Worth to Nvidia?

By Chelsey Dulaney, WSJ

Investors this morning are confronting the once-unthinkable: Nvidia without co-founder Jensen Huang.

The company's shares are sliding about 5% in premarket trading after its board launched an investigation into Huang's affair with an alleged Chinese spy. A company spokesman said Huang would stay on as CEO. Investors aren't so sure. Here's what's at stake.

Nvidia is on track to lose over $200 billion in market value when stock trading opens. That would bring Nvidia's market cap down below $4.3 trillion—still making it the second most valuable U.S. company, but slipping further away from leader Apple.

The investigation is likely to add to scrutiny of Nvidia's relationship with China. Huang has advocated against restrictions on its ability to sell chips to China, and last year struck a deal allowing it to sell a less-advanced type of AI chip there. Despite setbacks in implementing the deal, Nvidia reported overall sales to China and Hong Kong of $7.9 billion, or about 8% of its revenue, in its latest quarter.

Huang is both one of Silicon Valley's longest-serving leaders and one of its most powerful, and has forged close ties with Donald Trump and other global leaders as AI has taken off. Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and remains its largest individual shareholder with about 3.4% of outstanding shares. He is one of 11 members of the company's board of directors. But unlike some other tech firms, Nvidia doesn't have a dual-class share structure that gives Huang outsize control over the board.

Huang is both the AI industry's most prominent cheerleader—and its banker. Under his leadership, Nvidia had bankrolled the broader industry through investment deals in companies like neocloud CoreWeave.

💬Quotes Roundup: Reaction to Nvidia Probe After Huang’s Affair

Ed Ballard hedcut

By Ed Ballard, Newsletter Editor

Bill Ackman, CEO of hedge fund Pershing Square (X post):

"If indeed this is more than an affair, then it is an obviously a real problem. I like the guy. He has done a lot of good for the world and I hope the damage here is minimal. That is, I am hoping for a simple affair, not a risk to our national security."

Trump on Huang Staying Nvidia CEO: ‘Yeah, Sure’

By Joshua Jamerson

President Trump appeared to back Jensen Huang staying on as Nvidia's CEO.

“I think so, oh yeah, sure,” the president said when asked by reporters last night, adding that Huang is “an honorable guy. I think he probably has an excuse for it.”