Nvidia removed Jensen Huang as chief executive on November 12, ending a 32-year founding tenure and handing the interim role to the company's chief financial officer. The permanent successor will inherit a company built around one man's unusual span of skills, and analysts say replicating them may prove impossible.

Huang, who led Nvidia since co-founding it in 1993, could not survive reports of successive romance scandals. His downfall began with a dalliance with an alleged Chinese spy, Alice Huang, chief executive of the tech company Megaspeed. The board's decision echoes a pattern of tech leaders surviving scandals — Sam Altman survived a boardroom coup a little under three years ago — but Huang did not.

The succession question now dominates. Five capabilities defined his tenure, and each leaves a gap.

What did Huang master on geopolitics?

Huang deftly navigated the AI race between the U.S. and China, plus the awkward triangle linking Taiwan — home to TSMC, the foundry (contract chip manufacturer) central to Nvidia's chipmaking — and China, which wants to invade it.

"The fact that he was born in Taiwan, is the founder-CEO of Nvidia, and has been able to advocate for less-hawkish approaches to tech policy vis-a-vis China all go hand in hand in giving him perspectives as well as influence within the White House, and a demigod status in Taiwan and Asia," says Kristy Loke, a researcher at the MATS Program. Loke reckons any future CEO will struggle to replicate that geopolitical deftness: "Instead of Steve Jobs, we'll get perhaps a Tim Cook."

How did he manage Donald Trump?

President Donald Trump held Huang in high esteem and was still defending him earlier this week, saying his departure was not necessary.

"Between Taiwan and the development of AI in the U.S. and China, Huang has attempted to walk a careful line between the Chinese and U.S. governments, refusing to use adversarial language with respect to China, and uniquely able to attempt to remind political leaders of the major dependence of Nvidia on Asian supply chains and markets," says Paul Triolo, partner and head of technology for Asia and the Americas at DGA, a consultancy.

Triolo notes that Huang's position never irked the White House. "He was clearly a staunch supporter of the U.S. leading in the AI race, and frequently only advocated for the sale of GPUs (graphics processing units, the chips powering AI models) to China several generations behind the cutting edge to ensure the U.S. lead," he says. "These are policies that both the Biden and Trump administration have supported."

Can a successor match his pitchman role?

One of Huang's strengths was convincing a skeptical public that AI was a technology worth investing in. Like Steve Jobs with his black turtleneck, Huang had a trademark look and swagger that made him one of AI's most recognizable personalities — a visibility Nvidia's valuation did not acquire by accident.

Trump has floated Apple's former CEO, Tim Cook, as a potential candidate to lead Nvidia. That suggestion seems unlikely to materialize.

Will suppliers stay loyal without him?

Huang's downfall stemmed from getting too close to contacts, yet relationship-building was a core operational asset. Taiwanese media regularly covered his wining and dining of clients, sometimes at street food stalls. The concept is known as 义气, which roughly translates to loyalty.

He made regular visits to Taiwan, home to many vendors supplying Nvidia's chip components, maintaining ties through boozy meals and factory ribbon-cutting ceremonies. "Jensen's legendary supply chain dinners and commitments are what pushed suppliers in Taiwan to deliver on technologically and logistically aggressive plans," wrote Dylan Patel of SemiAnalysis, a research firm, in a blog post. It remains unclear whether those suppliers will extend the same warmth to anyone else.

Who can replace his command of detail?

Huang distinguished himself from most chief executives through deep understanding of the business and the technology underpinning it. "He was much more involved in the details of the firm's day-to-day operations than a typical CEO and has no deputies who can easily step into his shoes," says Chris Miller, a researcher at Tufts University and author of Chip War, a book on the semiconductor industry.

That strength may now prove a weakness. Huang's flat organizational structure means few others possess the same combination of breadth and depth. "Jensen Huang was one of the longest serving CEOs in the tech industry and the key force behind Nvidia's rise and its investments in AI," says Miller. "He'll be very hard to replace."

Analysts already worry that the succession could pose a long-term threat to Nvidia's share price. For now, the interim CEO — elevated from the finance function — must hold the company steady while the board searches for a nearly irreplaceable figure.