My sons, daughters and son-in-law all work in Huida! The New York Times reveals that Jen-Hsun Huang is highly centralized. Can the board of directors really have checks and balances?

The New York Times reported that Huida’s board of directors is facing the arduous task of investigating CEO Huang Jensen’s related actions. The New York Times reported that Huang Renxun has been in charge of Huida for more than 30 years, and board members have long-term investment and cooperative relationships with him. Governance experts have questioned whether this board of directors, which has a close relationship with the CEO, has the ability to independently supervise him.

The report pointed out that many directors of Huida have established investment and business relationships with Huang Renxun since the company’s early days. Early investors Mark A. Stevens and Tench Coxe have also joined the board of directors, and their holdings of Huida stock are worth billions of dollars each. Allison Henry, a clinical assistant professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, pointed out that directors' high qualifications do not mean they are willing to provide adequate supervision. The relationships established by long-term tenure may also affect the board's supervision of the CEO.

He once opposed succession planning and worried about divisions caused by competition among top executives.

Huang Renxun's management style also makes the company's decision-making highly centralized. The report pointed out that he emphasized reducing bureaucratic procedures. Currently, more than 60 subordinates report directly to him, and he is at the core of daily operations. Rene Haas, a former Huida executive and current CEO of Arm, revealed that the company had discussed establishing a succession plan for many years, but Huang Renxun did not like the idea and believed it could cause competition and division among senior executives.

Huang Renxun’s son, daughter and son-in-law are also currently working at Huida, responsible for product management, marketing, robotics and business development respectively. The report pointed out that this led some employees to believe that Huang Renxun might be grooming his children to take over. However, when Huang was asked in an interview last month whether his daughter might take over as CEO, he replied: "I don't want her to take this job."

Huida's board of directors will currently appoint external legal counsel to investigate Huang's related actions. The company stated that Huang will not participate in the selection decision, but will continue to serve as CEO during the investigation. Jo-Ellen Pozner, an associate professor at Santa Clara University's School of Business, believes that when corporate CEOs face this kind of controversy, they should publicly apologize and at least temporarily hand over control to others.

However, whether there are other senior executives at Huida who can temporarily take over is still a question. Jeff Christian, CEO of Christian & Timbers, a senior executive recruitment firm that often works with Silicon Valley companies, pointed out that most of Huida's internal executives are responsible for specific products or technology areas, and it is difficult to fully take over the company.

He described Huang Renxun's personal characteristics as too strong. If the board of directors asked him to step down, it would be "almost like trying to fire the boss of this company."