Who are the winners and losers from the Jensen Huang affair?

• Jensen Huang’s exit removes Nvidia’s key political links. His influence on US-China chip policy is gone, and this may reshape regulation and rivalry.
• Howard Lutnick is under pressure after claims he ignored export controls on Megaspeed. US officials now back tougher action, and China hawks are gaining ground.
• Tech leaders close to Trump could face scrutiny and their firms may suffer from weak succession plans and new regulation.

LONDON – Chips do not stop shipping because a chief executive leaves, so Nvidia will continue to be a key global player in its industrial sector. Still, what Jensen Huang took with him when he left Nvidia were his unique business acumen and priceless political connections. And both are irreplaceable.

He was the only CEO who, in a spate of a few days, could sit in the Oval Office, board Air Force One at an Alaskan refuelling stop on the way to a US presidential summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and then brief people in fluent Mandarin from a Beijing hotel ballroom.