Nvidia shares fell more than 8% in after-hours trading on Wednesday after The Wall Street Journal reported that the chipmaker’s board is preparing to oust Chief Executive Jensen Huang. The stock traded around $159 shortly before 8 p.m. Eastern time, down from its regular-session close of $173.73, according to publicly reported prices.
The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that the board was preparing to meet as soon as Wednesday to decide Huang’s future. Minutes earlier, The New York Times reported that Huang had an extramarital relationship with an executive at the company, citing five people who worked at Nvidia, according to CNBC and NBC News. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters the board was meeting on Wednesday. No decision has been announced, and Nvidia did not respond to requests for comment, NBC News reported.
The reports cap a week of turmoil for the world’s most valuable chip company. On Sunday, Huang told employees in a memo that he had been unfaithful to his wife, and Nvidia’s board opened an independent investigation into reports that he had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort, which NBC News reported involved Chinese intelligence. China has denied the allegations, NBC News reported.
The after-hours slide weighed on stock futures. Nasdaq-100 futures fell about 1% and S&P 500 futures about 0.4% in evening trading, while Dow futures were little changed.
Earlier Wednesday, Nvidia rose 2.9% from Tuesday’s close of $168.89, while the S&P 500 gained 1.3% and the Nasdaq Composite 1.6%. The stock had closed at $186.64 on Friday before falling on Monday and Tuesday.
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