Nvidia board retained Joon H. Kim and Wachtell as Beijing denies espionage operation
Nvidia’s shares fell by almost 5.5% on Tuesday, adding to the 4.27% drop on Monday, according to The Guardian’s business live coverage.
The two declines pulled the company’s value down to $4.07tn, from $4.50tn before the spying allegations involving chief executive Jensen Huang broke last weekend.
The Guardian’s live coverage described a crisis gathering pace at Nvidia, with around $430bn wiped off the value of the world’s most valuable company since it was hit by the spying scandal.
Overnight, Nvidia announced that it had hired a former top federal prosecutor to help probe chief executive Jensen Huang’s relationship with a suspected Chinese spy.
The company’s board retained Joon H. Kim, the former acting U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York, and his firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to conduct “a thorough and independent investigation”.
The inquiry will look into the circumstances of Huang’s relationship, which The Guardian’s live coverage said was thought to be with Alice Huang, whom U.S. officials believe is a Chinese spy and who worked for Nvidia customer Megaspeed.
Beijing has denied allegations that it operated an espionage operation targeting Jensen Huang, but Nvidia’s value has been buffeted this week, according to The Guardian.
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz has a track record of advising major companies on issues such as mergers and corporate governance, The Guardian’s live coverage noted. In 2022, Twitter hired the firm to force Elon Musk to complete his $44bn takeover.
The Guardian’s live coverage also listed diary items alongside its Nvidia reporting: ECB President Lagarde taking part in a panel discussion at the 9th Paris Peace Forum in Paris at 9.45am BST; US weekly mortgage approvals data at noon BST; and Chancellor John Healey being quizzed by the Treasury committee on the budget at 2.15pm GMT.