'I have no successor': Jensen Huang's dangerous stubbornness laid bare by affair scandal

As Nvidia grapples with a scandal over CEO Jensen Huang's extramarital affair, his past refusal to put a succession plan in place is drawing renewed scrutiny.

The New York Times reported Wednesday (local time) that discussions about establishing a succession plan had continued inside Nvidia for years, but Huang repeatedly rejected the idea.

Rene Haas, CEO of Arm — the British chipmaker — who spent about seven years at Nvidia and rose to vice president, recalled those discussions in an interview with The New York Times. "He didn't like that idea," Haas said. "He thought it would create competition among executives and cause division."

Huang has maintained an unusually centralized management structure at Nvidia, with roughly 60 executives reporting directly to him rather than through a conventional corporate hierarchy. He has personally received daily executive briefings, reviewed emails and driven projects himself. Even after sending an internal message over the weekend acknowledging the affair, he returned to the office Monday and resumed chairing meetings and handling routine business, according to reports.

That structure, however, is now being cited as a vulnerability — not only because of the CEO's personal misconduct, but because the crisis has also raised national security concerns. In the aftermath, Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress and Vice President Ian Buck have been floated as potential alternatives, but no successor commands broad support inside or outside the company.

Huang's daughter Madison Huang, senior director of product marketing, son-in-law Nico Caprez, a vice president, and son Spencer Huang, director of robotics product management, all hold executive roles at the company. Huang is not believed to regard his daughter as a successor, however.

Bloomberg released an interview it had conducted with Huang last month, following the emergence of the scandal. "First of all, I don't want my daughter to have that job," he said flatly. "If that's Spencer's or Madison's ambition, they have to earn it themselves. It's really, really hard, and it requires a lot of sacrifice," he added.

Huang also said he hopes to remain CEO for as long as he stays healthy and capable — including 20 years from now. His desire to lead the company for decades more is a position he has stated consistently at multiple media events.

Nvidia's board has formed a committee of independent directors and retained an outside law firm to conduct a probe in the wake of the scandal. Some observers, however, have questioned the independence of the board's investigation. Critics note that many board members are seen as allies of Huang, and that their combined tenure totals 161 years — raising doubts about whether the board is well-positioned to provide meaningful oversight of management.

Meanwhile, Silicon Valley's technology community and investors have mounted a public campaign to defend Huang.

Shaun McGuire, a partner at Sequoia Capital, posted on X (formerly Twitter) that while Huang had made a mistake, "he is irreplaceable for US AI leadership." Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, endorsed the sentiment, replying that he agreed.

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, chairman of Pershing Square, also came to Huang's defense. "He takes full responsibility," Ackman wrote. "Even the greatest people make mistakes." Antonio Gracias, founder of Valor Equity Partners, argued that "one mistake does not erase a lifetime of leadership."

The tech and investment community's rush to defend Huang appears to reflect the central role Nvidia's advanced chips play in the AI technology ecosystem — a position that makes the company, and its CEO, difficult to replace.