Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Nvidia's board 10 days to explain the company's chip sales to China and said the chipmaker should look outside its own ranks for a permanent CEO. Bessent made the remarks Sunday on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," three days after Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia CEO on Nov. 12.
Bessent said he wants answers from Nvidia's directors and from the outside counsel running the board's review within that window. His central question is whether Nvidia pushed sales through shell companies, and how far up the organization anyone knew. He framed it as a choice between a low-level failure, a problem in the middle, or one "up in the C-suite."
“I think we need answers in the next 10 days from the board and from the outside counsel”— Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary
Bessent pointed to Nvidia revenue booked in Singapore, which rose as the company's reported China sales declined. Nvidia stopped breaking out Singapore revenue separately in November 2025. Bessent said the shell companies involved "were obvious."
Key facts
- 01Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Nvidia's board and outside counsel 10 days to explain chip sales to China.
- 02Bessent said Nvidia should look outside the company for a permanent CEO after Jensen Huang resigned Nov. 12.
- 03Bessent pointed to rising Singapore-booked revenue as Nvidia's reported China sales declined.
- 04Interim CEO Colette Kress presents Nvidia's quarterly results on Tuesday, Nov. 17.
- 05Nvidia has lost more than $1.2 trillion in market value since the scandal broke in late October.
He compared Nvidia's position to a bank's. Bessent said that if a bank had failed to comply in the same way, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency would already be on site and many executives would be removed. He also called for a "dramatic shakeup" at Nvidia.
“were they pressing these seemingly illicit sales to goose their revenues and their earnings?”— Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary
The remarks center on Megaspeed, a company under Justice Department investigation over possibly redirecting export-restricted Nvidia chips to China. Megaspeed is suspected of smuggling export-controlled chips worth $2 billion into the country. Huang's resignation followed disclosures about his relationship with Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive; the two are not related. The Justice Department has not reached a conclusion on espionage allegations tied to the case, and China denies them.
Bessent again placed responsibility for Megaspeed's absence from the US export blacklist on the Commerce Department, led by Howard Lutnick. Treasury, State, Defense and the US Trade Representative backed adding Megaspeed to the Entity List for months, Bessent has said, but Commerce holds the authority. Zero Chinese tech companies were added to the trade blacklist in the past 12 months, compared with 266 between November 2024 and November 2025.
Bessent said new legislation is not needed, even as Senators Jim Banks and Elizabeth Warren push chip-export bills in Congress. His position is that existing export rules are sufficient and the gap is enforcement.
“We have all the rules we need, we just need them enforced.”— Scott Bessent, U.S. Treasury Secretary
Nvidia's board has already opened its own review. Independent directors hired the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and former acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim on Nov. 10, and on Nov. 13 the board said it was still selecting a CEO search firm. CFO Colette Kress is serving as interim CEO and will present Nvidia's quarterly results on Tuesday, Nov. 17, her first as interim chief.
Nvidia has lost more than $1.2 trillion in market value since the scandal broke in late October, and its shares fell 12.7% last week. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Bessent's remarks.
Lutnick is scheduled to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Dec. 10, and committee Chairman Tim Scott has asked Huang to testify on Dec. 3. Rep. John Moolenaar said Huang has agreed to testify behind closed doors to House lawmakers, with no date set.
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