Jensen Huang's Departure Prompts Financial Firms to Consider Exiting... 670 Trillion Won AI Financing Plan Falters

[Financial News] NVIDIA Corporation's former CEO, Jensen Huang, has suddenly stepped down, putting at risk the large-scale financing plan for the artificial intelligence (AI) industry that he had personally spearheaded.
On the 13th (local time), at least one of the six major Wall Street financial institutions that had agreed to participate in the plan discussed withdrawing the previous day, suggesting that the plan as a whole was facing a severe liquidity crunch, according to foreign media including The New York Times (NYT).
Last August, former CEO Huang announced a goal of providing $500 billion (about 670 trillion won) in funding for AI computing deals, alongside executives from six financial firms, including Apollo Global Management, BlackRock, Blackstone Inc., Brookfield Asset Management, Goldman Sachs and KKR. However, no loans have reportedly been disbursed to date.
Analysts say the plan is bound to be hit hard by the leadership vacuum, given that it was driven largely by Huang personally, including his direct calls to CEOs of major Wall Street firms to spearhead the formation of a consortium. In fact, Wall Street partners had been locked in a tug-of-war with NVIDIA over the terms of financial guarantees even before Huang stepped down.
Bloomberg News reported that the deal could close as early as January next year. Even that is contingent on Huang's departure not derailing the entire financing plan.
Concerns are mounting as the leader who had spearheaded financial deals across the AI ecosystem—including equity investments in data center companies and mergers and acquisitions (M&A)—is no longer at the helm. “NVIDIA is the central bank of the AI industry,” said Michael Edwards, a director at AI-focused investment bank Forum Markets. “Imagine the Federal Reserve (the Fed) without a chair.”
Still, some believe the company's fundamental influence remains intact, given that NVIDIA continues to wield overwhelming influence in the global AI semiconductor supply market, holds abundant cash and cash equivalents, and the Trump administration is supportive of the regulatory agenda concerning the AI industry.
[email protected] Jeon Min-kyung Reporter