The day after the Nvidia cofounder confirmed he had been “unfaithful” to his wife, his wealth dropped by $6.5 billion. Meanwhile, his company’s stock fell by as much as 9% by Monday, winding up 4.3% lower at $178.67 per share. 

Huang owns around 870 million shares (roughly 3.5%) of the $4.3 trillion business in his own name and family trusts, according to a September 2026 filing, which represents the bulk of his fortune.

The loss has sent him tumbling down the ultra-rich list past Walmart heirs Jim Walton and Rob Walton, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. 

But Huang is still worth a whopping $148 billion and is the 12th wealthiest person in the world. 

Fortune has reached out to Nvidia for comment. 

Further investigations and lawsuits could continue to impact Nvidia’s stock and Huang’s net worth 

Investors and the public alike are reeling from the most recent investigations into Huang’s alleged spy affair scandal. Last month, the New York Times reported that the CEO had formed a relationship with Alice Huang, a Chinese executive at Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed, which buys Nvidia’s AI chips. 

On Sunday, Nvidia’s board launched an independent investigation into the reports that Huang had been “the target of a foreign intelligence effort,” and the CEO sent an email to staffers apologizing for the extramarital affair. And just yesterday, Rosen Law firm filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court alleging that the company and its CEO failed to disclose information about Huang’s connections to the alleged Chinese spy accused of passing information to Beijing. 

“While the Board has no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised, the Board’s inquiry will examine all available information,” Nvidia’s board of directors said in a statement. “Jensen fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it.”

The latest dip in Huang’s wealth only compounded upon pre-existing problems, as the CEO briefly dropped out of the top 10 last week after a broad tech stock sell-off following the Democrats’ midterm victories. 

But the pending investigations and lawsuits could continue to impact Nvidia’s stock and Huang’s net worth. 

Dan Ives, a tech analyst at Yorkville Ives, wrote in a research note that this is a “black eye moment” for the CEO and will create “an overhang” on the company’s stock. There are a myriad of concerns as Huang has an outsized influence on the company, U.S.-China tensions rage on, and the possible tighter export restrictions loom overhead. 

Billionaire fortunes are at the whim of breakthroughs, investigations, and scandals

The net worths of CEOs and founders are largely at the whim of their company stock—all it takes is one breakout earnings report, scandal, or blockbuster news to shake up their fortunes.

In 2022, notorious FTX cofounder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was dropped from the billionaires ranking after 94% of his fortune vanished in a single day. 

His wealth plummeted following Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao announcing that he had reached a provisional agreement to acquire FTX amid insolvency concerns, leading to a freefall in the price of the crypto exchange’s native token. Just 24 hours before that, Bankman-Fried was estimated to be worth $15.2 billion, according to Bloomberg, losing $14.6 billion overnight.  

And in 2023, Zhao also watched his fortune take a hit. 

The U.S. government cracked down on crypto trading platforms Binance and Coinbase, which sent the fortune of its billionaire founders, Zhao and Brian Armstrong, on a downward spiral. The pair lost nearly $2 billion of their combined fortune after the Securities and Exchange Commission filed lawsuits alleging that both crypto exchanges operated unlawfully.

On the flipside, good news can send a founder’s fortune soaring just as quickly. Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of pioneering tech company Dell Technologies, recently watched his wealth double thanks to the AI boom. The 61-year-old—who owns 40% of his tech company—gained around $122 billion between September 2025 and 2026, nearly doubling his wealth to a whopping $262 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. 

And earlier this year, Moderna cofounder Robert Langer re-entered the billionaires club following promising cancer vaccine trials that sent the company’s stock soaring. 

The “Edison of Medicine” witnessed his equity in the biotech business double in value, shooting his net worth up to roughly $1.7 billion, according to an August Forbes analysis. His wealth surge followed news that Moderna and pharmaceutical company Merck’s mRNA cancer vaccine hit its goals in a Phase 3 trial targeting melanoma, sending Moderna’s stock soaring more than 100%.