Nvidia stock sank another 4% on Friday, falling below $4 trillion in market cap during midday trading as investors navigated the fallout from CEO Jensen Huang‘s resignation.
Colette Kress, Nvidia’s CFO, will take over as interim CEO, the company announced Thursday.
Following the announcement of Huang’s departure, shares of Nvidia declined sharply Thursday morning before recovering to close just 4% lower.
Huang was under increasing scrutiny after a series of reports that the CEO was in a relationship with a Chinese woman believed to be a spy for Beijing. Huang disclosed that he had an affair on Sunday in a note to employees. The board also announced an investigation into the matter on Sunday.
Nvidia stock chart
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Huang had another extramarital romantic relationship, this one with Kimberly Powell, vice president of health care at Nvidia.
Reuters reported on Thursday the existence of yet another affair with an Nvidia employee, which the news agency did not name. Nvidia did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Before Huang resigned, several Wall Street analysts told CNBC that his departure could cost Nvidia as much as 20% of its market value, given how critical he has been to the company’s success. Nvidia’s stock was already down more than 20% over the last month.
Stephane Houri, head of equity research at ODDO BHF, said much of the company’s success has been built around Huang, and his influence extended into the broader industry.
Houri told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Friday that the architecture of the AI industry “really depended on the vision” and expertise of Huang.