How to save the next Jensen Huang from himself
The spectacular downfall of Nvidia’s co-founder puts a spotlight on key-man risk and failures of corporate governance.
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Jensen Huang’s resignation as chief executive of Nvidia on Nov 12 raises troubling questions about corporate governance, says the writer.
PHOTO: ERIC LEE/NYTIMES
John Authers
Jensen Huang’s dizzyingly swift departure from Nvidia, the innovative chipmaker he co-founded and turned into the world’s most valuable company and backbone of the artificial intelligence boom, seems to come straight from the pages of a novel by John le Carre. The tale of a brilliant billionaire brought down by a “honey-trap” spy, and by an affair with a subordinate, is irresistible.
It may be more important, however, to view it in the dry terms of corporate governance – and focus on the directors and investors who gave him such power. How could Huang possibly have been allowed to grow so critical to the Santa Clara-based multinational, with so little oversight, that he thought he could get away with such behaviour? And why were capital markets prepared to take such a huge risk on one man?