A wayward chief executive is a major problem for any company. The scandal unfolding at the top of Nvidia, though, is a liability for a much broader set of people. It’s a good moment to think about how to make the world less dependent on the fortunes and foibles of Jensen Huang.
对于任何一家公司而言，行为不端的首席执行官都是一个重大隐患。而英伟达(Nvidia)顶层目前曝出的丑闻，其负面影响的范围还要广泛得多。现在正是时候思考：如何让世界少受黄仁勋(Jensen Huang)个人命运及弱点的影响。
The Nvidia chief said on Sunday that he had been unfaithful to his wife, following reports that a woman with whom he had relations may have been a Chinese intelligence asset. Given the value of Nvidia’s intellectual property and the fraught nature of US-China politics, this raises countless questions that a board probe, assisted by outside lawyers, will have to investigate.
上周日，这位英伟达首席执行官承认曾对妻子不忠。此前有报道称，与他有过亲密关系的一位女性可能是中国情报人员。考虑到英伟达所拥有的知识产权价值，以及美中政治关系的复杂敏感，此事引发了诸多疑问，英伟达董事会必须在外部律师的协助下，对此展开深入调查。
Whatever they find, it is undeniable that Nvidia without Huang as its CEO would have a problem. He is already spread thin, overseeing about 60 direct reports, with no obvious successor. And the company’s board is not exactly robust. Its directors have an average tenure of 18 years, more than twice the S&P 500 mean, according to consulting firm Spencer Stuart. Five of them have served for roughly three decades, with no apparent resistance from shareholders.
无论调查结果如何，有一点毋庸置疑：如果黄仁勋不再担任首席执行官，英伟达将面临严峻挑战。他目前承担的职责极重，直接向他汇报的高管多达60人左右，且他尚无明确的接班人选。此外，英伟达的董事会也谈不上稳健。据咨询公司Spencer Stuart统计，其董事的平均任期长达18年，是标普500指数(S&P 500)成分股公司平均水平的两倍多。其中五位董事的任期已达30年左右，而股东没有明显的反对。