£200bn wiped off value of Nvidia as it launches probe into boss Jensen Huang’s affair with ‘Chinese spy’

Shares in chip giant Nvidia are set to plunge wiping £200bn off its value after boss Jensen Huang admitted to cheating on his wife with a suspected Chinese spy.

The world’s second most valuable company – which is at the heart of the global artificial intelligence (AI) revolution – is investigating whether Huang has been targeted by foreign intelligence.

On Sunday, the 63-year-old said in a memo to staff: ‘I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did.’

The revelation stunned traders already reeling from tech stock volatility last week sparked by Donald Trump’s mid-term election wipeout and raised questions about whether Mr Huang could remain as boss.

Shares in Nvidia – valued at $4.5 trillion (£3.3 trillion) at the end of last week – plunged by 6 per cent in pre-market trading on Monday, knocking $270 billion (£199 billion) off its value.

That would be enough to buy FTSE 100 giants Rolls-Royce and BP with change to spare.

Neil Wilson, investor strategist at Saxo UK, said: ‘Markets are trying to figure out what this means for arguably the world’s most important company right now.

‘If Huang is forced to leave, what happens to Nvidia? Huang is kind of irreplaceable for US leadership in AI.’

Nvidia’s internal probe followed a media report that Huang had a close relationship with a Chinese businesswoman who allegedly passed information to Beijing.

The investigation is hugely significant given the leather-jacketed businessman’s prominent rock-star like status at the heart of the AI boom.

He has met Donald Trump on several occasions and – with other tech bosses – joined the US president on a visit to China.

Mr Trump said after the revelations: ‘I have not spoken to him about it. I just know he’s a fine person, but you never know what is going on. I hope everything’s fine … I think he‘s an honourable guy.’

Gary Black, co-founder of investment firm The Future Fund, said: ‘I doubt Jensen Huang will be able to remain as (Nvidia) CEO. This could put short-term pressure on the stock of the second most valuable company in the world.

‘He has no natural successor within the company. While Huang has not committed any crime or tort, his code of conduct and judgment will be called into question, which will likely result in his removal.’

Bill Ackman, the prominent US hedge fund boss, said: ‘If indeed this is more than an affair, then it is 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.’

Shaun Maguire, partner at venture capital firm Sequoia, said Huang ‘did something incredibly dumb’ that was ‘bad for America’ but that ‘Jensen is irreplaceable for America‘s AI leadership.’

Tesla boss Elon Musk commented ‘I agree’ to the post.

The probe comes after the New York Times reported last month that Huang had a relationship with Alice Huang – no relation – a former executive of Singapore-based company Megaspeed, who US authorities investigated and concluded was a Chinese intelligence asset.

Jensen Huang has been married to his wife Lori for 41 years, and they have two adult children, Madison and Spencer.

Nvidia’s board has said that it had ‘no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised’ as a result of their relationship, but that it ‘will examine all available information’. Huang has supported the review, it added.

The Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing: ‘The so-called Chinese spy narrative is purely a groundless accusation, slander, and a smear.’

Megaspeed did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Monday.

Alice Huang did not respond to the New York Times last month when it first reported the relationship.