Who might replace Jensen Huang as Nvidia CEO?

Nvidia’s board of directors is reportedly meeting on Wednesday no doubt to discuss the latest controversies surrounding their company’s CEO – Jensen Huang – and whether they will let him go or not.

Jensen Huang, 63, is the CEO of the (until recently) most valuable company in the world, with Apple overtaking the company in value after Huang was caught having an affair with a Chinese spy.

Huang who has led Nvidia since its founding in 1993, overseeing the company from a tech startup to being the most valuable company in the world is potentially facing termination by Nvidia’s board of directors as it convenes today.

Nvidia has no known plan of succession, and with Huang becoming unexpectedly swamped with litigation and controversy; it leaves the field wide open for potential replacements to lead the tech and chip giant if Huang is shown the door.

Below are some of the names frequently floating around as a potential replacement for Huang:

Internal Hire

The first route Nvidia could take is turning inwards toward its 40,000 employees to find a replacement, aiming for an in-house pick to lead the industry giant; that person could even be one of Huang’s dozens of direct reports.

The most cited name among these direct reports is Nvidia’s Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress who is already among top leadership and seems an easy choice for the board.

Another name is Ian Buck, the man overseeing the company’s data center clients and a key mind behind the software that keeps Nvidia-designed chips in demand.

According to Business magazine Inc, Bryan Catanzaro, Nvidia’s vice president of applied deep learning research is also a top pick that could be brought in to replace Huang.

A Family Pick

Another way the replacement could go is that Huang could attempt to position a member of his family inside the company as a potential replacement.

Huang’s daughter, Madison Huang, is the senior director of product marketing at Nvidia and is, unsurprisingly, one of the names most commonly suggested by industry analysts.

Huang’s son, Spencer Huang, director of product management in Nvidia’s robotics division is also named as a potential successor.

And Finally, Huang’s cousin, Lisa Su, is also a name that is floating around; she’s Huang’s first cousin, once removed and possesses valuable expertise as the longtime CEO of semiconductor giant AMD.

Other CEOs filling the gap

Aside from his cousin Su, AMD’s CEO, there is also Rene Haas, the CEO of UK chip design firm Arm; her name being another one suggested by the tech press.

And the potential candidate who generated the most speculation in Silicon Valley is Tim Cook, the former CEO of Apple – who stepped down from Apple in August after 15 years as CEO – leaving him available to lead Nvidia should the board pivot in his direction.