I was the last person at CNBC to do a live broadcast interview with Jensen Huang.
At the time, Huang still seemed untouchable. But weeks later, Nvidia is confronting a question investors hadn't had to confront in more than 30 years: What does the company look like without him?
I sat down with the company founder on Oct. 22 at Nvidia's GTC event in Berlin, Germany, just weeks before he admitted to an affair with a woman that U.S. intelligence alleges could be a spy for China.
"Jensenmania," as I like to call it — which had come to characterize the CEO's appearances — was in full force at the Berlin event. The Nvidia merchandise store featured clothing with Huang's face on it, huge cheers erupted when he appeared on stage, and attendees were doing their best to secure a picture with the Nvidia founder.
Huang had somewhat of a rockstar persona with a fandom to match in every city he visited around the world. In 2025, I followed Huang around on his visit to Europe. At an event in London, an attendee who was eagerly waiting to catch a glimpse of Huang compared the Nvidia boss to "Iron Man," referencing the popular character of the Marvel superhero and tech billionaire inventor Tony Stark.