Nvidia has shed more than $450 billion in market value since Nov. 8, when CEO Jensen Huang admitted to an affair, and the losses accelerated after the Wall Street Journal reported the board is preparing to remove him. Shares fell nearly 8% in after-hours trading Wednesday, sliding from a $173.73 close to roughly $160, according to Yahoo Finance.

The stock had finished the regular session up about 3% before the report landed. The Journal said the board could meet imminently to decide Huang's future. The same day, the New York Times reported Huang had a second extramarital relationship, with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of health care.

How did the crisis begin?

The turmoil dates to Nov. 8, when Huang admitted an affair with Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed International whom U.S. officials believe is an agent of China's Ministry of State Security, the AP reported. The two are not related. Nvidia's board investigation may also examine past statements the company and its executives made about Megaspeed, Fortune has reported.

The company, No. 16 on the 2026 Fortune 500, was worth about $4.1 trillion at Wednesday's close, second only to Apple, according to Companies Market Cap. Nvidia became the first company to reach a $5.5 trillion market cap in May 2026, per Yahoo Finance. Founded in April 1993 and public since January 1999, it now sits inside the index funds and target-date funds anchoring millions of Americans' 401(k)s, whether savers chose it or not.

How much of a typical 401(k) is Nvidia?

"The average American's exposure to NVIDIA stock volatility depends on how they invest, but a reasonable estimate is 3% to 5%," Leonard Gilroy, senior managing director of the Reason Foundation's Pension Integrity Project, told Fortune.

Nvidia represents about 6% of the S&P 500's total market capitalization and about 10% of the NASDAQ100's, Gilroy said. An investor with 100% of retirement savings in those index funds could see a direct loss of 5% to 10% if Nvidia hypothetically went to zero. About 70% of 401(k) assets sit in public equities, and most holders mix index and target-date funds, which dilutes single-company risk.

Public pensions face even less exposure. Nvidia accounts for about 2.5% of the average public pension fund's assets, Gilroy said, since public equities make up only 46% of assets under management. "It's worth watching, but overall the current direct exposure to NVIDIA is not a major concern for public pension systems," he said.

What is the bigger risk?

Spillover may matter more than Nvidia itself. "What happens to one major player in a dynamic market can spill over to other firms, such as AI companies and other large consumers of NVIDIA chips, so indirect investment risks beyond NVIDIA's own performance can be significant," Gilroy said.

Leadership remains the open question. Huang has run Nvidia since co-founding it in 1993, and Bloomberg has reported the company is working with an outside firm to explore replacements.

Why do experts say savers should sit tight?

Jill Fisch, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, urges patience. "Ordinary retirement accounts are invested for 20, 30, or 40 years or more," she said. "So I would say over the long term, this is going to be a tiny blip."

She noted the market lacks information on both outcomes and Nvidia's underlying value. "It's common for the price of a company's stock to fall when there is new information, when there's a scandal, but the long-term value of Nvidia's stock is going to be tied to the value of the company," Fisch said.

Security issues or questions about long-term leadership would prove "more problematic," she acknowledged. She pointed to Apple, whose stock swung on news of co-founder Steve Jobs' pancreatic cancer in the 2000s before becoming a flagship retirement holding.

Gilroy's advice extends to institutions: maintain diversified, risk-managed portfolios and avoid single points of failure. Fisch's is simpler. "They're going to go up and they're going to go down; don't check the value of your portfolio that often," she said. "Go play with your grandkids."