As Nvidia's Jensen Huang faces scrutiny over his alleged extramarital ‘affairs’ and a probe by US officials over national security concerns, the board of the chip company has been consulting an outside firm as they mull replacing the chief executive officer.Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is likely to be ousted from the chip company over the recent row regarding his extramarital affairs and a Chinese spying plot. (REUTERS)Earlier this week, the Nvidia CEO admitted to having an extramarital affair in a letter to staff. While Jensen did not name anyone, reports have identified the woman as Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman and a former executive at Megaspeed, which is Nvidia's main cloud partner for the Asia-Pacific region.
Track LIVE updates on the Nvidia row hereAs per US government officials, Huang Le (Alice Huang's Chinese name), is suspected to be an intelligence asset for China. Authorities have also claimed that under her, Megaspeed allowed the transhipment of Nvidia's AI chips to Beijing, which have been prohibited by Washington.
The Singapore-based firm has denied any wrongdoing.Also Read | Jensen Huang had a second affair with Nvidia executive who reports to him: ReportWith Huang now on the back foot and no known plan of succession at Nvidia, the field is wide open for a variety of replacements to lead one of the key AI players.Who could replace Jensen Huang?There are several names in the mix for the next CEO of Nvidia. Despite the options, there are three key options.These options are either an internal hire, a family pull or a tech CEO swap.If Nvidia decides to stick to in-house hiring and make changes to its leadership, some of the key names in the mix are Colette Kress and Ian Buck.Colette Kress is currently Nvidia's chief financial officer and a relatively easy choice for the board, as per tech publications.Another name is Ian Buck, who oversees Nvidia's data centre clients.
Buck was also a key mind behind the software that keeps Nvidia-designed chips in demand. However, as per Bloomberg, Buck lacks the operational experience that investors often look for at the head of a large publicly traded company.Business magazine Inc. has also listed Nvidia's vice president of applied deep learning research, Bryan Catanzano, as a possible pick.Nvidia could also pick a member of Huang's family when choosing the next CEO.Also Read | How Nvidia's board can remove Jensen Huang, and what his exit could mean for AI chip raceAs per reports, Jensen Huang's daughter Madison Huang is currently the senior director of product marketing at Nvidia and is among the names most suggested by analysts.Another name is his son, Spencer Huang, who currently works as the director of product management in Nvidia's robotics division.Huang's son-in-law Nico Caprez, also works at the company as vice president of Global AI Infrastructure Growth.The board could also look at hiring a CEO from another tech company.
The first name which comes to mind for this is Lisa Su, the CEO of semiconductor giant AMD.Under Su's watch, AMD surpassed chipmaking pioneer Intel Corp. in technological leadership, and its stock has surged nearly 170-fold. An added bonus for this pick is that Su is also related to Jensen Huang.The AMD CEO is Huang's first cousin, once removed, as her maternal grandfather is the elder brother of Jensen Huang's mother.
Tech reports also state that another name in the mix is Rene Haas, CEO of UK chip design firm Arm. As per Bloomberg, Haas, who is a former Nvidia executive, manages a complicated ecosystem of customers and partners with unique insight into the AI chipmaker as well as the broader tech landscape.Other big tech names being speculated are former Apple CEO Tim Cook, Apple's Chief Hardware Officer Johny Srouji, Amazon.com Inc.
Web Services chief Matt Garman, Micron Technology Inc. Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra, and Google’s Amin Vahdat.(With inputs from agencies)