Nvidia investors turned bearish before this week's Jensen Huang saga. But the selling on Wall Street accelerated in the past few days, sending the stock toward its sixth straight weekly drop, the longest losing streak since 2012.
The chip giant, which spent most of the year as the world's most valuable company, has lost 29% of its value over that stretch as of Thursday's close. That's a drop of roughly $1.6 trillion in market cap, and it fell below Apple in the process.
Huang, who co-founded Nvidia and led it for 33 years, resigned on Thursday after two separate extramarital affairs — one with an alleged Chinese spy and the other with an employee — were made public. The board named finance chief Colette Kress as interim CEO while it conducts a search for a full-time successor.
Nvidia shares fell 4.3% on Thursday, bringing their loss for the week to 11%. News of the first reported affair hit the front pages over the weekend, when Huang sent a letter to employees apologizing for being "unfaithful to my wife." The board convened late Wednesday after The New York Times reported on the other affair, this one with the company's vice president of health care.
By early Thursday morning, Huang was out, capping a stunning fall for the Nvidia co-founder, who had emerged as one of President Donald Trump's top allies in the corporate world.