Alongside naming CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO, Nvidia on Thursday also appointed Harvey C. Jones as its first-ever board chair, as the controversy surrounding Jensen Huang exposed gaps in the chipmaker’s governance practices.
Jones, 73, has served on Nvidia’s board since 1993.
He sits on the board’s nominating and corporate governance committee.
The company described him as an “entrepreneur, technology executive, and active venture investor for over 30 years, including serving as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman of Synopsys”.
The appointment came as Huang resigned as Nvidia’s CEO, president, and board member following revelations about his alleged relationships with two women, including a Chinese businesswoman reportedly suspected by US intelligence agencies of having links to China’s Ministry of State Security.
Nvidia’s governance structure comes under scrutiny
The controversy triggered by the revelation of Huang’s relationship with an alleged Chinese spy and then later also with a company vice president had also raised questions about the governance of the $4 trillion chipmaker, which had operated without a board chair and lacked a publicly outlined succession plan.
Nvidia also initially denied reports of Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang, before the CEO acknowledged it.
Also, even as it launched a probe into Huang’s relationship, it already announced at the outset that it had no reason to believe company secrets or national security information had been compromised.
According to Fortune, Huang worked with lead independent director Stephen Neal to set board meeting agendas, while management prepared the information presented to directors.
Neal could also convene meetings of independent directors without Huang.
Who is Harvey C. Jones?
According to Nvidia’s website, Jones has been managing partner of private investment firm Square Wave Ventures since 2004.
He co-founded Daisy Systems Corp., a computer-aided engineering company, in 1981 and served as its president and CEO until 1987.
He then led Synopsys, a major electronic design automation company, serving as CEO for seven years and later as executive chairman.
Jones also co-founded technology intellectual property company Tensilica in 1997 and chaired its board until its acquisition by Cadence Design Systems in 2013.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jones, other board members have longstanding ties with Huang
Synopsys, which Jones previously led, supplied software used in chip design.
A New York Times report said many of Nvidia’s board members had longstanding ties to Huang, with directors having served a combined 161 years on the board.
Another former Synopsys executive, A. Brooke Seawell, joined Nvidia’s board in 1997 and remains one of its 10 directors.
The Nvidia shares held by Jones and Seawell were worth a combined $1.86 billion as of June, the New York Times reported.
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