Stock losses deepen
Nvidia traded at $175.50 before the market opened on Monday, according to finanzmarktwelt.de. The shares had already closed Friday, November 6, about 23% below their October 6 record of $243.38.
German financial site Ariva attributed the recent sell-off to both broader weakness in AI stocks and espionage suspicions involving a Chinese acquaintance of Huang. Its quoted prices showed Nvidia shares at 158.60 euros, down 5.32%, and Nvidia's CDR at 25.70 euros, down 1.53%.
Board backs Huang while opening investigation
Nvidia's board announced the independent investigation on Sunday, November 8, 2026. Independent directors will oversee the inquiry with help from outside independent counsel. The board expressed confidence in Huang and his leadership team and said it had no reason to believe that Nvidia's secrets or U.S. national security had been compromised.
Huang, 63, acknowledged an affair in a message to employees that day. According to Berliner Zeitung, citing Bloomberg, he said he had been unfaithful to his wife, offered no excuse for his behavior and pledged to support the investigation fully.
The reports concern Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, a former senior executive at Singapore-based cloud provider Megaspeed International. She is not related to Jensen Huang. According to The Wall Street Journal, as reported by Dow Jones Newswires on November 9, U.S. officials concluded last year that she had shared information with the Chinese government while working with Nvidia on data centers in Asia.
Megaspeed, a major Nvidia customer, allegedly purchased more than $4.8 billion in Nvidia chips over two years, finanzmarktwelt.de reported. U.S. authorities were already examining whether it had evaded U.S. export restrictions and sent advanced AI chips to China. Megaspeed denies wrongdoing.
China rejected the espionage allegations on Monday, November 9. Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said the claims were without foundation and amounted to defamation against China. Beijing also denied that there had been a spy plot to ensnare Nvidia's CEO.
Political support and congressional scrutiny
President Donald Trump publicly supported Huang on Sunday, describing him favorably and saying he should continue to lead Nvidia. Leading House Republicans, meanwhile, had already sought a briefing from Huang about his contacts with Alice Huang.
The revelations also came just days before a planned meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in Shenzhen. Their expected discussions on trade relations made the timing sensitive for the fragile U.S.-China trade truce.
Leadership risk and the earnings outlook
Market commentators differed over Huang's future as of November 9. Yorkville Ives analysts, including Dan Ives, expected him to remain CEO without an interruption in the near term, but said the board investigation and anticipated congressional inquiries could still lead to his removal. Gary Black of The Future Fund doubted that Huang could stay in the job. Wharton professor Mohamed El-Erian warned of key person risk that markets might not have adequately reflected in prices.
On the stock's valuation, Ariva reported that analysts remained bullish, citing intact fundamentals and a historically low price-to-earnings ratio below 12. It identified the quarterly results scheduled for November 17 as a potentially decisive turning point for the shares.
As of November 9, leading House Republicans were also demanding a confidential congressional hearing for November 18, immediately after Nvidia's scheduled earnings release. That hearing remained a request, not a confirmed event.
