Nvidia Stock Drops 12% at Open After CEO Jensen Huang Resigns

Nvidia's stock dove 12% at the opening bell on Wall Street on Nov. 12, 2026, after Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive effective immediately, according to NBC News. Shares had pared the loss to a decline of more than 5% by 2:30 p.m. ET, but the swing was enough to drag the Nasdaq, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 lower for the session, NBC News reported.

Why Did Nvidia Stock Fall Today?

Nvidia was among the biggest decliners on all three major indexes for most of Nov. 12, NBC News reported, as investors reacted to Huang's abrupt exit from the company he co-founded. The stock's path through the day mirrored the broader market's: falling, rising and then declining again, according to the report.

Market Snapshot

• Nvidia stock: down 12% at the open; down more than 5% as of 2:30 p.m. ET, per NBC News
• Nasdaq, Dow, S&P 500: all "slightly lower" for the session, following a similar pattern of swings, NBC News reported

Why Did Jensen Huang Resign as CEO?

Huang's departure came after a New York Times report said he had had a relationship with an executive at Nvidia who reports to him, according to NBC News. The company did not have a formal succession plan in place when the resignation was announced, NBC News reported, leaving Nvidia — the designer of chips that power most of the artificial intelligence sector — without an established transition process at a moment of intense market scrutiny.

"It's a pivotal moment for AI, with Anthropic gearing up for its potentially trillion-dollar-plus initial public offering next week," NBC News reported, noting Anthropic's reliance on Nvidia's chips and its hundreds of billions of dollars in contracts with cloud providers to rent them.

Who Is Running Nvidia Now?

Nvidia named its longtime chief financial officer as interim leader following Huang's resignation, according to NBC News. The report did not name the executive beyond that title, and Nvidia had not announced a permanent successor as of the report's last update.

How Did the Broader Market React?

The decline in Nvidia shares rippled across the indexes most exposed to the chipmaker's outsized market value. NBC News reported that the Nasdaq, Dow and S&P 500 all traded choppily through the session, with each index falling, recovering and then slipping again in a pattern that tracked Nvidia's own stock movement. By early afternoon, all three major indexes were described by NBC News as "slightly lower."

What Does Huang's Exit Mean for Anthropic's IPO?

The timing lands days before Anthropic's planned initial public offering, which NBC News described as "potentially trillion-dollar-plus." Anthropic depends on Nvidia's chips and has signed contracts worth hundreds of billions of dollars with cloud providers to secure access to that hardware, according to the report. A leadership vacuum at the chipmaker introduces uncertainty for a company preparing one of the largest technology offerings of the year, though NBC News did not report any change to Anthropic's IPO timeline as a result of Huang's resignation.

Timeline: How Nvidia's Day Unfolded

• Before the open, Nov. 12: News breaks that Jensen Huang has resigned as Nvidia CEO, effective immediately, per NBC News.
• Market open: Nvidia shares fall 12%, NBC News reported.
• Through the morning: Nvidia ranks among the top decliners on the Nasdaq, Dow and S&P 500, according to the report.
• By 2:30 p.m. ET: Nvidia's loss narrows to more than 5%, with the stock and major indexes continuing to swing between gains and losses, NBC News reported.
• Company response: Nvidia's longtime CFO is named interim CEO, per NBC News, with no permanent successor announced.

The resignation followed a New York Times report on Huang's workplace relationship, and NBC News noted related coverage on its site indicating Huang has agreed to brief Congress on his interactions with an alleged spy, according to lawmakers cited in that reporting. Nvidia's next moves — on succession, on investor confidence and on its central role supplying chips to AI developers including Anthropic — will shape trading in the stock in the sessions ahead, though no further company statement was included in the NBC News report beyond the CFO's appointment as interim leader.

For the full account of the trading day and Huang's resignation, see NBC News.

Artiglio is A coming-soon iPhone chief of staff for briefings and drafts. Not on the App Store yet.