Similarly, Eric Schmidt has done this job before: he arrived at Google in 2001 as the seasoned executive to provide “adult supervision” beside two brilliant founders and built it into a global colossus, working hand in hand with the brilliant technical talent of the Google founding team with barely any daylight between them.
NVIDIA’s moment of truth
Whichever path NVIDIA’s directors choose, the one option no longer available to them is blind deference to a single leader.
Even with Huang’s seemingly likely ouster, the board’s work is only beginning. In our view, a deep failure was exposed this week: one of the world’s most valuable companies was allowed to run with some 60 direct reports, no clear succession plan, as though its founder were both immortal and infallible.
History is unambiguous on this point. Legendary companies like Polaroid, Digital Equipment, and Wang Labs arguably withered because their boards could not separate the institution from the founder. Apple soared after Steve Jobs because he and his board had prepared Tim Cook to lead.
