I interviewed Huang at peak ‘Jensenmania.’ Three weeks later, Nvidia is grappling with a world without him

CNBC's Arjun Kharpal interviewing former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the company's GTC event in Berlin, Germany on Oct. 22, 2026.

Mike Green | CNBC

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. 

These moments that I experienced really embodied what Huang had become – a larger-than-life personality who was central to the excitement around artificial intelligence. Less CEO, more AI hype man, evangelical about the technology and its transformative power. 

Huang's AI vision

The near 500% rally in Nvidia's shares over the past five years has been driven by its incredible growth, but also the backing of Huang's vision. 

"Nvidia without Jensen is something which we've never really considered," Storm Uru, co-head of the global innovation team at Liontrust Asset Management, which has been invested in Nvidia since 2017, told me.  

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