Is Nvidia changing CEOs? 1️⃣ Currently, the possibility seems quite high. After Jensen Huang admitted to infidelity on November 8th, the board publicly stated they "still trust him" and launched an independent investigation. However, on November 11th, the New York Times revealed a second relationship (with Kimberly Powell, the company's VP of Healthcare, reporting directly to him). Combined with the first relationship involving Alice Huang, who is suspected by the US of being a Chinese spy, the nature of the matter changed. It escalated from a simple personal scandal into a conflict of interest and governance issues. The WSJ, Reuters, and other media outlets subsequently reported that the board met on the evening of November 11th to discuss whether to remove him. Huang holds only about 3.6% of the shares and does not have veto power. The prediction market (Polymarket) once pushed the probability of him "leaving or being removed within the year" to over 80%. Of course, there has been no formal decision yet, and the company has not officially confirmed it, but the tide has clearly turned. 2️⃣ Who is most likely to take over? Nvidia's biggest problem is the lack of a true second-in-command; its flat structure makes the company highly dependent on Jensen Huang. In the short term, the safest bet is CFO Colette Kress. She joined in 2013 and has long been responsible for finance and investor communications; Wall Street knows her best. Some board members reportedly favor having her as interim CEO to stabilize the market and team. She can stabilize the situation, but she's not the type to continue leading the technical direction. In the medium to long term, Ian Buck is considered a better candidate. He is one of the main inventors of CUDA and now heads the hyperscale computing business, directly working with core clients like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and OpenAI. Choosing him would be to preserve Nvidia's core software moat and customer relationships. He and Kress are frequently ranked near the top in market predictions. Other names (such as former Nvidia executive and current Arm CEO Rene Haas) have also been mentioned, but their probability is significantly lower. External appointments carry greater risk; the board is looking for external candidates, but internal candidates are more likely to be prioritized. 3️⃣ Impact on Market Value Many bad news has already been priced in. Since the scandal broke, Nvidia has lost approximately $450 billion to $600 billion in market value from its early October high. On November 11th, after-hours trading saw a further drop of over 8% due to rumors of his removal, wiping out another $200-300 billion in a single day. Short-term volatility is expected to continue, especially as the November 17th earnings report approaches. The market's fear isn't just about the change itself, but rather the loss of Huang's "foresight + customer relations + Washington lobbying" combination. Will customers adopt a wait-and-see approach, and will capital expenditure be affected? In the medium to long term, the quality of the succession will be crucial. If Kress is used as a transitional figure and the technical team (especially the Buck line) remains stable, the market has a chance to repric. However, if the succession process is chaotic, and product development or the CUDA ecosystem is questioned, then the "operational risk" may be greater than the current "governance risk." Analysts often say, "Huang is Nvidia," losing him is a major event, but the company's orders and ecosystem lock-in won't disappear instantly. Currently, it's still "being seriously considered," not "a decision has been made." The board's statements and the clarity of the succession plan in the next few days to one or two weeks will directly determine the stock price's trajectory.