A $124 billion safety net, tied to someone who has resigned.
Nvidia announced on November 12 that Jensen Huang had resigned as president, CEO, and board member, effective immediately. CFO Colette Kress would serve as interim CEO, the board would begin its search for a permanent CEO, and Harvey Jones was appointed the company’s first chairman. The November 17 earnings report would go ahead as scheduled.
But what’s really worth looking at isn’t the personnel change—it’s the network the Financial Times pointed to: over the past two years, Huang personally built Nvidia into the AI industry’s ultimate backstop, through investments, orders, and guarantees. Its total equity investments stood at $124 billion as of the end of July, with CoreWeave and OpenAI both part of that network. The chips can keep selling, but with a new person at the backstop, will the network hold firm?
The market has already cast its first vote: Nvidia shares fell as much as 14% intraday on Thursday, then closed down 4.34%, wiping out about $182 billion in market value. But that same day, Taiwanese ASIC stocks such as MediaTek and Alchip hit their daily limits, and Ming-Chi Kuo said Google was the winner. Some fear the network will unravel; others are already looking for the next one.
The statement gave no reason for the resignation, nor did it say whether Huang would have any further ties to the company. Thirty-three years of personal credibility were handed over with a 300-character announcement.
In the end, what determines a company’s worth: its balance sheet, or the person sitting in that seat?
#TheInterestsBehindTheHeadlines,#Nvidia,#JensenHuang
Nvidia announced on November 12 that Jensen Huang had resigned as president, CEO, and board member, effective immediately. CFO Colette Kress would serve as interim CEO, the board would begin its search for a permanent CEO, and Harvey Jones was appointed the company’s first chairman. The November 17 earnings report would go ahead as scheduled.
But what’s really worth looking at isn’t the personnel change—it’s the network the Financial Times pointed to: over the past two years, Huang personally built Nvidia into the AI industry’s ultimate backstop, through investments, orders, and guarantees. Its total equity investments stood at $124 billion as of the end of July, with CoreWeave and OpenAI both part of that network. The chips can keep selling, but with a new person at the backstop, will the network hold firm?
The market has already cast its first vote: Nvidia shares fell as much as 14% intraday on Thursday, then closed down 4.34%, wiping out about $182 billion in market value. But that same day, Taiwanese ASIC stocks such as MediaTek and Alchip hit their daily limits, and Ming-Chi Kuo said Google was the winner. Some fear the network will unravel; others are already looking for the next one.
The statement gave no reason for the resignation, nor did it say whether Huang would have any further ties to the company. Thirty-three years of personal credibility were handed over with a 300-character announcement.
In the end, what determines a company’s worth: its balance sheet, or the person sitting in that seat?
#TheInterestsBehindTheHeadlines,#Nvidia,#JensenHuang