Bessent calls for outside CEO at Nvidia, demands probe into China chip smuggling

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has called for a sweeping overhaul at Nvidia following the resignation of former CEO Jensen Huang, saying the board should recruit the company's next chief executive from outside. Bessent said the issues go beyond Huang's personal conduct and warrant a full investigation into alleged illicit semiconductor exports to China and Nvidia's broader corporate culture.

Appearing on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" on Sunday (local time), Bessent said Nvidia needs a major shake-up and that when the board searches for new leadership, "I think they should look outside the company."

Bessent said he particularly wants to know whether Nvidia was aware of — and turned a blind eye to — the possibility that its advanced chips were being smuggled into China. He raised concerns that the company may have deliberately ignored warning signs that shell companies established in Singapore and elsewhere were routing Nvidia semiconductors to China through indirect channels.

"I want to find out what the corporate culture at Nvidia was like — whether they pushed through what appear to be illegal sales in order to boost revenue and earnings," he said. "I think we need answers from the board and outside legal counsel within the next 10 days."

It is unusual for a sitting US Treasury secretary to publicly weigh in on the direction of a private company's CEO search. Bloomberg said Bessent appears to be framing the episode not as a matter of Huang's personal conduct but as a national security issue.

Earlier, allegations emerged that Huang had an extramarital relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at Megaspeed who is suspected of being a Chinese spy. Megaspeed is believed to have served as a conduit for routing Nvidia chips into China. The scandal surrounding Huang's personal life has since spilled over into questions about the integrity of US advanced semiconductor export controls and national security.

The fallout could extend beyond Nvidia to within the US government itself. Bessent also raised questions about the responsibility of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who oversees semiconductor export controls.

"Many agencies were pushing to sanction Megaspeed, and the Commerce Department had the final say," Bessent said. His remarks were widely interpreted as suggesting that the Commerce Department's handling of the Megaspeed sanctions decision needs to be scrutinized to determine whether appropriate action was taken during the export control process.

However, Bessent drew a line at new legislation to tighten restrictions on semiconductor technology exports. "Legislation is not needed," he said. "The regulations are already in place — they just need to be enforced."