Topline

Nvidia shares fell about 2% in early trading Monday morning after China said it was opening an investigation into one of the world’s most valuable companies over possible antitrust violations.

Important facts

Important background

Nvidia shares have enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent years, fueled by the artificial intelligence boom. The investigation follows President Joe Biden last week expanding restrictions on the sale of advanced technology to China, including sales of certain chips and machinery. The Chinese government announced it would ban the export of several rare minerals to the United States and in response imposed sanctions on U.S. defense contractors and executives. Nvidia is also facing antitrust problems in the US – the Justice Department was seeking information about whether the company violated antitrust laws earlier this year through its acquisition of startup RunAI and in other aspects of its chip business, Bloomberg reported.

Forbes rating

CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang has an estimated net worth of $124.3 billion and is ranked No. 11 on Forbes’ real-time billionaire tracker. Huang has invested almost all of his wealth in a 3.5 percent stake in Nvidia shares and briefly broke into the world’s top 10 richest in October after shares rose to a new all-time high of nearly $144 .

Further reading

Nvidia stock briefly rises to all-time high in rollercoaster post-earnings trading (Forbes)