Nvidia loses $600b in market cap as Jensen Huang steps down over affair scandal

Nvidia's market capitalization briefly shed more than $600 billion during trading after CEO Jensen Huang abruptly stepped down over an extramarital affair scandal.

On the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday (local time), Nvidia shares closed at $166.19, down 4.3 percent from Wednesday.

The company's market cap fell by roughly $182 billion in a single day to approximately $4.01 trillion.

Nvidia's board announced Thursday that Huang had immediately stepped down from his roles as president, CEO and board member. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent successor from both inside and outside the company.

The news sent Nvidia shares tumbling 13.1 percent at the open to $151, with the stock sliding as low as $148.80 during trading — a 52-week low representing a 14.3 percent drop from Thursday's closing price. At that point, the company's market cap shrank to $3.59 trillion, a decline of $602 billion, briefly falling behind Microsoft. Bargain hunters stepped in, however, and the stock pared its losses.

According to Reuters, buy orders for Nvidia on Fidelity's retail investor platform outnumbered sell orders by five to one.

Nvidia held on to the No. 2 spot by market cap at the close, trailing Microsoft's $3.88 trillion by roughly $129 billion. The closing price was the lowest since March 30 ($164.79), a stretch of more than seven months.

Compared with Nov. 6, the day before Huang acknowledged the affair, the share price has fallen 11.0 percent and market cap has dropped by roughly $494 billion.

Measured against the all-time closing high of $239.24 set on Oct. 6, the stock is down 30.5 percent, erasing roughly $1.76 trillion in market cap.

Rival AMD, meanwhile, rose 5.9 percent.

Nvidia is still scheduled to report its third-quarter earnings on Tuesday.