“These are the most expensive affairs in recorded history. … My rough estimate is that the stock dropped a little over 11% since the news of the first affair broke. That means the company has lost about $465 billion in market value. … Two affairs that cost more than the entire market capitalization of Coca-Cola.”
The Indicator (Planet Money) · Money & Markets · November 2026
Context
Ricky Mulvey's indicator for the week is the price of NVIDIA's CEO scandal. His figure is a rough estimate, and he notes the stock has been volatile.
Transcript
Well, of course, Jensen Wong resigned yesterday from his roles as CEO, president, and board member after reports of two affairs: one with a healthcare executive at his company and another with an alleged Chinese spy.
And this isn't just tabloid fodder, right? I mean, the amount of money involved here, as far as the company goes, is staggering.
These are the most expensive affairs in recorded history. The stock has been all over the place, so it's hard to give you a definite number. But my rough estimate is that the stock dropped a little over 11% since the news of the first affair broke. That means the company has lost about $465 billion in market value. So that is my indicator. Or in the spirit of this story, I need multiple indicators. Two affairs that cost more than the entire market capitalization of Coca-Cola.
No, that is a wild statistic. Okay, but only one of these affairs seems to have national security implications, right? The one with the alleged spy. So what is the 411 on Alice Wong?
Yeah, so she's a former television presenter for Chinese state media outlets, but then she popped up as an executive at this computing firm.
What a career arc. And this company she was the executive at, this was Megaspeed, right?
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