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IT Home reported on November 12 that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had discussed his succession weeks before an extramarital affair scandal rocked the company. In an interview for Bloomberg's The Circuit, recorded on October 14 and released today, Huang addressed his succession plans: “Just as I could be fired, the next CEO would have to be hired by the company.”
Huang, who has led Nvidia for 33 years, has a daughter and a son, both of whom work at Nvidia. His daughter, Madison Huang, is senior director of product marketing for embodied AI, while his son, Spencer Huang, is director of robotics products.
Asked whether his daughter would succeed him, Huang replied: “First of all, I don't want her to take this job. If Spencer or Madison has that ambition, they must earn it themselves.”
According to IT Home's recent reports, the interview was released as Nvidia went through a turbulent week. On the 9th, Huang admitted he had been “unfaithful” to his wife. Earlier today, The New York Times cited 5 former employees as saying that Huang had also had another extramarital affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare, who reported directly to him.
The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, reported that Nvidia's board was preparing to replace Huang. After the news broke, Nvidia shares fell as much as 8% in after-hours trading.
Nvidia's management structure is known for being flat. Huang has as many as 60 direct reports, making it difficult for outsiders to determine who is truly second in command at the company.
In his Bloomberg interview, Huang discussed succession plans and the responsibilities of a CEO. He hoped the next CEO would come from within Nvidia and, at the time, had no plans to leave soon: “I sincerely hope the next CEO is already inside the company. But 20 years from now, I hope I will still be healthy, and I hope I can continue to create value for the company.”
The interview revealed that developing Nvidia's next CEO was also Huang's responsibility: “We should create the conditions for the company's continued growth and ensure that the next leader is already working at Nvidia.”
Speaking about the responsibilities of the CEO role, Huang emphasized: “I bear responsibility for the entire industry. There is a lot of pressure in being CEO, and there should be.”