Here’s What a $10,000 Investment in Nvidia Could Be Worth if Jensen Huang Is Removed as CEO, According to Wall Street Analyst Dan Ives
The market was thrown a major curveball recently when it came to light that Nvidia‘s (NVDA +2.87%) CEO, Jensen Huang, had a relationship with a woman who may have been a Chinese spy at the time.
Huang and Nvidia more or less confirmed the reports when Huang, in an email to employees, acknowledged that he had been “unfaithful” to his wife. Furthermore, Nvidia’s board of directors announced in a press release that it had launched an independent investigation into a “foreign intelligence effort” targeting Huang.
The investigation may have moved quickly because The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 11 after the market closed that the company is preparing to remove Huang, citing anonymous sources. The New York Times also reported around the same time that Huang may have had a separate affair with an Nvidia executive.
Nvidia’s stock fell over 7% in after-hours trading, as of 7:02 p.m. ET. on Nov. 11.
Huang is a very consequential CEO, so if he is removed as CEO, there could be far-ranging ramifications for the artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant and Nvidia stock.
Here’s what a $10,000 investment in Nvidia could be worth if Huang is removed, according to Wall Street analyst Dan Ives.
Image source: Nvidia.
Huang is the “torchbearer” for AI
There isn’t another company as important to the AI trade as Nvidia, nor a figure more influential than Huang. That much is clear.
Nvidia designs graphics processing units (GPUs) that enable the training of AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. Nvidia has also recently become one of the major players in designing central processing units (CPUs) that help handle many of the orchestration activities of AI agents.
According to Fortune magazine, Nvidia is estimated to control 90% of the GPU market. The company also boasts gross margins in the low to mid-70s, suggesting significant pricing power. Nvidia is currently the second-largest company in the world by market cap, at over $4.3 trillion.
Because of its key role in the AI trade and the ascent of Nvidia stock, Huang has become an icon for many, viewed as the leader of the AI trade. Investors pay close attention when he speaks about AI, and he’s become as well known as just about anyone on Wall Street.
It’s also not as if Nvidia is an overnight success story. Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 at the age of 30, so he clearly had the foresight to know that AI would eventually be as big as it is now.
“Jensen is a very unique CEO,” said Futurum Group’s CEO Daniel Newman, according to the Los Angeles Times. “There is no known succession plan. There are no leaders in his company that would be the clear next to step up.”
Dan Ives, a partner and senior managing director at the newly created investment bank Yorkville Ives, wrote on X on Nov. 10 that if Huang is removed, investors will feel it.
NVDA – Nvidia
$173.73+$4.84 (+2.87%)
NASDAQ · As of 4:00 PM ET 11/11/26
“We believe if Jensen was removed as CEO, Nvidia is worth a lot less (25%-30%) as a company/stock and would change the future direction of the company and create a dramatically different competitive environment around AI GPUs globally especially for China,” Ives wrote.
Ives, who is one of the most renowned tech analysts on Wall Street, also estimated a roughly 15% chance that Huang would be removed as CEO at the time of the post. As of this writing, the odds of Huang’s ouster prior to Nov. 13 hit 60% on the prediction markets platform Kalshi.
The loss of Huang could significantly hurt investor confidence in Nvidia
I think Ives is absolutely right. While I’m sure Nvidia would press on without Huang, it would take time for the company to rebuild investor confidence. Nvidia has struggled at times this year, even after delivering blowout earnings in the first half.
Investors have become cautious about the AI trade, as it is in somewhat uncharted territory given how big Nvidia has become.
This scandal alone could lead Congress — soon to be controlled by Democrats, who are generally much more skeptical of AI than Republicans — to press for further export restrictions on chips, which could further harm Nvidia’s market opportunity in China.
While some of the downward move may have been priced in, if Huang is removed and Ives is right that the stock is worth up to 30% less, a $10,000 investment would be worth as little as $7,000. Furthermore, if Huang is removed shortly, as media outlets suggest, the speedy decision by Nvidia may catch investors off guard and lead to a further near-term sell-off given the haste of the decision.
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Source: www.fool.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.