黄仁勋辞职以后，英伟达谁来管

To be honest, I always thought of Nvidia and Jensen Huang as the same thing.

Right, a lot of people do.

He founded the company in 1993, and for the 33 years after that, he was always the chief executive,

Mm.

Never changed.

On November 12, Nvidia announced that he was resigning as president, chief executive and member of the board,

That same day?

Effective that same day.

Why did he resign, what does the announcement say?

The announcement gave no reason. It is reported that a few days before he resigned, some reports about his private life caused controversy.

Mm.

So who is taking over?

Mm, the chief financial officer.

She has been in that role since 2013, and now she is taking on the role of interim chief executive,

Oh.

For now, she is also still handling the chief financial officer's side of things.

One person holding two jobs.

Right.

I've seen people worry that she, she isn't a technical person.

It is reported that she indeed has no engineering background.

But at a company that designs chips, what an interim chief executive has to do, I think, is not first of all making technical calls,

Mm.

it's keeping people steady.

Keeping whom steady?

The first group is suppliers.

Nvidia doesn't make chips itself. The chips are made by TSMC.

It is reported that he used to keep up the relationships with suppliers personally,

Mm.

The second group is Washington.

Also, it is reported that he dealt with the US government personally, arguing for looser limits on selling chips to China.

Right, with relationships like that, if someone else steps in, they may not pick up where he left off.

If they can't, the supply chain and policy, both, both carry risk.

And investors too, right?

Right, investors, and the companies that took its money.

It is reported that over the past three years, Nvidia promised young AI companies more than $70 billion, and many deals

were ones he said yes to.

Right, it is reported that they rested on just a word from him.

Oh.

So now the person who says yes has changed.

Changed.

I think what these, these companies care about most now is whether the earlier promises still count.

Yes.

But I think, in terms of money, Nvidia can hold up.

Mm, go on.

It is reported that analysts expect its revenue this financial year to be over $400 billion, almost twice last year's.

Also, it is reported that it has about $100 billion in cash on hand.

A company like this can go on as usual for a few months without a permanent chief executive.

Right, I agree with all that.

But the market's reaction hasn't been so calm,

Mm.

It is reported that after the news came out, the share price fell by about a fifth.

A fifth,

Yes.

A fifth, for one of the most valuable companies in the world, is not a small number.

So what fell, what fell wasn't this year's business, it was certainty about the future.

True.

And its position is very visible.

It is reported that, by estimates, about two-thirds of the world's AI computing power, meaning the computing capacity used to train and run models, runs on its chips.

Oh, two-thirds of the computing power.

Mm.

But the rivals have always been there.

AMD is chasing, and big cloud companies like Google and Amazon are all designing their own AI chips too.

So what the rivals want most is for Nvidia to fall into disorder on its own first.

I don't see it that way.

For rivals to catch up, it depends on chips. Whether Nvidia changes people or not doesn't have that much to do with it.

I still think changing people at a time like this

Mm.

gives others a chance.

Mm, we can differ on this point.

Okay.

So what has the board done now?

Mm, two things.

One is setting up a board chair for the first time. Since the company was founded, this is the first time.

33 years without a board chair,

Right, never.

The board chair said the board has "full confidence" in her and the management team.

Mm, people usually say things like that.

They usually do.

The key is the second thing: finding a permanent chief executive, searching both inside and outside the company.

It is reported that the board has hired an outside headhunting firm.

Headhunters are the ones who specialize in finding people for companies.

Right.

So during the wait,

Mm.

she alone, alone has to keep the books and also keep suppliers, investors and the government at ease.

Right.

Until the new person arrives, this company that revolved around one person for 33 years will be led by someone who has kept its books for more than ten years.