- Nvidia’s board launched an independent probe into reports of a foreign spy plot.
- Huang apologised via email to Nvidia employees for being unfaithful to his wife.
- Binance’s NVDAUSDT perpetual dipped as much as 4.2% below the previous US close.
Nvidia’s board has ordered an independent investigation into reports that chief executive Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort, and Huang has apologised to staff in writing for being unfaithful to his wife. With Wall Street closed for the weekend, crypto exchanges and X became the trading floor.
How the Story Unfolded
- Oct. 29: The New York Times reported that a Chinese businesswoman at Singapore-based data centre firm Megaspeed had built a close bond with Huang, and that US spy agencies had flagged her as an asset working for China.
- First reply: Huang called Nvidia’s dealings with Megaspeed routine, said every GPU deployed there was accounted for, and said she had left the company.
- Background: Megaspeed has faced a US Commerce Department inquiry, begun late in the Biden administration, over concerns it helped China sidestep chip curbs.
- Sunday, the board: Independent directors, advised by outside counsel, will review all available information. The board sees no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised and says it backs Huang.
- Sunday, the email: Huang told employees there is no excuse for his conduct, apologised to his family, colleagues, directors and shareholders, and asked that his family be given privacy.
Washington Weighs In
- Donald Trump: Called Huang an “honourable guy”, said he has not spoken to him, suggested Huang probably has an explanation worth hearing, and said he expects him to stay on as CEO.
- Marco Rubio: Declined to comment, calling it an internal corporate matter.
What the Weekend Price Said
With US exchanges closed, perpetual futures became the first gauge. Binance’s NVDAUSDT contract slipped as much as 4.2% below the last US close, Binance Research said. Binance led Nvidia perpetual trading over 24 hours with $360.35 million in volume, 44% of the top eight venues, and held $90.57 million in open interest, 30.1% of the total.
Posts on X argue that AI-linked shares were already balanced on a thin wire and that Nvidia is the piece connecting the large cloud providers to smaller names such as CoreWeave, so a shake-up at the top could travel far. However, Bernstein kept its Outperform rating and $400 price target.
Backdrop
The row arrives after a rout in richly valued technology shares pushed Japanese and Taiwanese stocks into technical bear markets. The US chip index rose 4.2% on Friday, with Nvidia up 3%. Nasdaq futures fell as much as 150 points on Sunday evening before recovering, and S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures were about 0.6% higher in Asian trading on Monday.
Related: U.S. AI Data Center Boom Faces Debt Risks as Costs Rise and Projects Stall
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