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KS Kara Swisher Kara Swisher Technology journalist who has covered the internet business since 1994.

“Silicon Valley boards are such unctuous toadies. … If any other CEO had an affair with a suspected spy, they'd be gone yesterday.”

Pivot (Kara Swisher & Scott Galloway) · Tech Strategy & Big Tech · November 2026

“Silicon Valley boards are such unctuous toadies. … If any other CEO had an affair with a suspected spy, they'd be gone yesterday.” — Kara Swisher, Pivot (Kara Swisher & Scott Galloway)

Context

Swisher was reacting to the Nvidia board's statement that it has full confidence in its CEO while its investigation is still under way. She was criticizing how readily boards back a powerful founder-CEO.

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Transcript

Pivot (Kara Swisher & Scott Galloway) Around 29:13 into the episode
Speaker 2

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Scott Galloway

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Kara Swisher

…you. NVIDIA's CEO, Justin Wong, has admitted to an affair with a woman who U.S. intelligence believes was a CEO's Spy. You literally can't make this up. NVIDIA's board was in, he is the top AI executive in probably the world. NVIDIA's board is investigating, but already says it has full confidence in him. Wow, they've already not investigated, but they've decided that. That's really interesting. Silicon Valley boards are such unctuous toadies. Anyway, the problem is Huang has been Washington's loudest voice for selling AI chips to China, and that's what the alleged spy was reportedly recruited to push. It's so problematic on so many levels. If any other CEO had an affair with a suspected CEO's Spy, they'd be gone yesterday. And of course, the company tried to downplay it and pretend it wasn't happening. Then, oh, wait, it was. And…

Scott Galloway

it's a lot here. So first off, I think they blew an opportunity. He should have just said, same last name. It's my wife. So just some right? Missed opportunity. Her

Kara Swisher

name is, I think, Alice. Okay, so just

Scott Galloway

some insight, and this will be illuminating. Sometimes men make bad decisions with their dick.

Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.

More from Pivot (Kara Swisher & Scott Galloway)

“Imagine the CEO of Northrop Grumman decides, I don't like what's going on in the South China Sea, so I'm going to shut off the guidance systems for Ohio-class submarines. Would we put up with that?” — Scott Galloway, Pivot (Kara Swisher & Scott Galloway) “We think if a data center exists, it should make everyone's utility bills cheaper and not more expensive. They should be required to bring their own energy, and that energy should be renewable. And they should make sure they have a self-contained system that doesn't use water.” — Mike Johnston, Pivot (Kara Swisher & Scott Galloway)