Nvidia has no obvious successor to Jensen Huang — and that's a problem

Nvidia is coming under fire for having no clear succession plan to replace Jensen Huang in the event that something unexpected happens — like an international incident with him at the center . Why it matters: The spotlight on Huang shows the vulnerabilities of a large company being dependent on one executive — and the risks it poses to investors and customers, corporate governance experts tell Axios. Catch up quick: Huang — who founded the chips giant, serves as its all-powerful CEO and exerts significant influence over the global AI economy — admitted to having an affair with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy. Nvidia's board announced an independent investigation Sunday, and experts say Huang's chances of keeping his job are a coin flip . The big picture: The company, by all accounts, has no clear bench of potential replacements. Huang famously has dozens of direct reports, ensuring that no single individual — other than him — has a wide-ranging purview at the company. "The biggest issue is no human goes on forever, and this is exactly why you want a good succession plan in place if something like this were to happen," says Charles Elson, a corporate governance expert and former University of Delaware professor. "You can't base a company that big around one person. You just can't," Elson added. "What if he gets hit by a bus?" CEO succession planning is a standard practice for big public companies, and it's not clear whether Nvidia has a confidential plan. State of play: The highest-profile member of Huang's executive team is Colette Kress, Nvidia's chief financial officer, who appears alongside him during the company's earnings calls. But analysts say Kress — who has spent her career in financial roles — isn't necessarily a natural successor to Huang in his role as an innovator and visionary for the AI age. What they're saying: "It's ridiculous that they have nobody in management identified," says Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Managem