$300 Billion Erased as Jensen Huang Steps Down From Nvidia
📣 ARTICLE HEADLINE
Global AI stocks plummeted on Thursday after Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang resigned following a board investigation into his personal conduct. Technology sector funds and global equity investors faced immediate market turmoil as Nvidia shares dropped 10.3 percent in premarket trading, sending shockwaves across international exchanges.
Interim Leadership Takes Control as Nvidia Valuation Drops Toward $4 Trillion
Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress has stepped in as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent successor. The executive departure followed a board investigation announced on Sunday into Huang’s relationship with businesswoman Alice Huang, who faces allegations of acting as a Chinese spy. Nvidia has lost approximately $300 billion in market value since the investigation was made public, placing the chipmaker on course to fall below a $4 trillion market valuation for the first time since July 2025.
The selloff extended heavily across AI infrastructure providers and key hardware suppliers. Nvidia-backed neocloud firm CoreWeave fell 13.6 percent, while Nebius plunged 20 percent after projecting its 2026 revenue at the low end of previous guidance. Memory chipmaker Micron Technology declined 5.8 percent, Sandisk fell 8.5 percent, and Western Digital dropped 5.2 percent. AI server manufacturer Dell and photonics suppliers Lumentum and Coherent each registered declines of around 7 percent. Chip-related firms Marvell Technology, Intel, Arm Holdings, and Texas Instruments all dipped between 4.5 percent and 6.3 percent.
Competing chipmakers captured modest gains as investors anticipated potential shifts in hardware procurement, with AMD rising 2 percent and Broadcom advancing 1.4 percent. Data from analytics firm ORTEX indicated that short sellers tracking Nvidia held $3.8 billion in paper profits as of the previous market close, with gains expanding to roughly $6.8 billion as the stock price fell to $163. Financial metrics compiled by LSEG showed Nvidia trading at approximately 12 times its 12-month forward earnings estimates, marking its lowest valuation multiple since November 2012.
The leadership crisis arrives alongside broader market anxiety over circular financing practices in the AI infrastructure build-out and regulatory concerns following US midterm election results in states opposing new data center construction.
