A Global Corporation in Turmoil

Will a Former Skiing Prodigy Become the Next Nvidia CEO?

Nico Caprez has enjoyed a meteoric rise in his career.(Bild: AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

From ski prodigy to CEO of a global corporation? Nico Caprez could soon rise to the top of the U.S. tech giant Nvidia. The 35-year-old former Swiss junior downhill champion is considered a promising candidate to lead the company out of its current crisis. What makes this particularly interesting is that Caprez is related to founder Jensen Huang—the very man who recently plunged Nvidia into turmoil with a scandalous affair.

Huang, Nvidia’s longtime CEO, recently sent the financially strong company reeling due to an affair. One of the 63-year-old’s alleged mistresses, Alice Huang, is suspected of attempting to obtain information and coveted Nvidia chips on behalf of the Chinese government. 

After the story broke and the resulting pressure mounted, the Nvidia founder resigned from all his positions on Thursday. CFO Colette Kress has taken over on an interim basis—but the search for a successor to Huang is already in full swing. 

Jensen Huang(Bild: AFP/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI)

Especially since the major corporation has run into trouble as a result of the scandal and is striving to regain stability as quickly as possible. In this context, a former skiing star has also been mentioned. Nico Caprez, who was once considered a great downhill hope for the proud skiing nation of Switzerland, is one of the most promising candidates, as reported by the “Blick.”  

Rapid Rise After Ending His Skiing Career
Now 35 years old, he once enjoyed some success at the junior level—but he never managed to make the leap to the professional ranks. “My knee never fully recovered. Plus, I didn’t want to be constantly taking painkillers. So I turned my attention to new challenges,” Caprez explained to the Swiss media outlet. 

And this new challenge was no small feat: After completing his studies, the Swiss national eventually landed a job at Nvidia, where he climbed the career ladder rapidly. He is now responsible for global growth in the AI division. And he has always been considered a close advisor to Huang—especially since the two are also related.

In September, Caprez married Madison Huang, the daughter of Nvidia’s founder, in Hawaii. The two had met while studying in London. It’s a connection that could now catapult the Swiss executive to the top of the company. So far, Nvidia itself has only stated that it will “review internal and external candidates and find a permanent solution.” 

Long-time relationship with a female skier
Caprez has, however, remained loyal to the sport of skiing in a different way. For a long time, he was in a relationship with ski ace Wendy Holdener. He even occasionally trained in giant slalom with her, as he had revealed. But the long-distance relationship finally fell apart in 2020. 

Wendy Holdener (right) was in a relationship with Caprez for many years.(Bild: GEPA)

He remains good friends with several Swiss ski stars, though, including Thomas Tumler, Gino and Mauro Cavieziel, and the now-retired Carlo Janka.