Nvidia's CEO was the rock star of AI before his dramatic unravelling

In recent years, Jensen Huang has been riding high on the crest of the AI wave as his company Nvidia became one of the most valuable in the world. Back-to-back revelations of two affairs involving the CEO, including a romantic relationship with an alleged Chinese spy, upended his seemingly untouchable status as a leading tech figure and led to his resignation from the company he helped form.

His departure leaves uncertainty in the global stock market, which leans on his microchip company, and over the future of a US company seen as a linchpin in the country's race for AI dominance over China. On Wednesday, reports emerged that the 63-year-old married man was said to have had an affair with a Nvidia colleague, coming just days after revelations surfaced of a romantic relationship with a woman alleged to be a spy for China.

This hit the company's shares, and they sank again after the New York Times reported that Huang had had a second affair with an executive at his own company.