Analysts believe that Jensen Huang's visionary leadership style, his central role in corporate strategy formulation, and Nvidia's exceptionally flat management structure make him a particularly irreplaceable leader. Huang reported to far more than the average CEO, revealing approximately 60 people in a March interview. He once stated, "The more subordinates a CEO directly manages, the fewer management levels within the company, which helps maintain smooth information flow." Joseph Fuller, Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School, believes that because Huang directly managed the company's senior management, he wielded "enormous power" at Nvidia. He was not only the top decision-maker but also the company's coordinator and coordinator, responsible for resolving disagreements and allocating resources. With Huang's departure, Nvidia lost this key coordinator.
Joe Allen Pozner, Associate Professor of Management at Santa Clara University's Levy School of Business, stated that Nvidia's minimally tiered management model has been effective so far because Huang has consistently been a leader with strong leadership and a clear vision. However, she points out that this management structure can also make it more difficult to manage leadership changes within the company. Pozna believes that without Jensen Huang, it's likely no one else would be able to coordinate among people with diverse expertise, potentially slowing down technological development. Furthermore, no one else possesses Huang's holistic vision, making it difficult for the company to find a long-term successor internally. Huang directly manages dozens of subordinates, possibly without sufficient time to cultivate one of them as a successor. Pozna anticipates that Nvidia's next leader will push the company towards a more traditional management structure. She stated, "I understand that many people, especially in Silicon Valley, are averse to rigid hierarchies and the organizational structures typically used by large traditional companies. But there's a reason why these structures exist." Pozna concluded by saying that Nvidia's current management system "is not an organizational structure that can be sustained in the long term."
