Bessent says Nvidia must 'go outside the company' to find new CEO

WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said Nvidia needs to "go outside the company" as it seeks a new chief executive after Jensen Huang abruptly stepped down last week.

Huang stepped down on Thursday after revelations of extramarital affairs, including one involving a suspected Chinese spy, plunging the chipmaker into crisis.

"This makes me think that as the board conducts a search for a new leader that they need to go outside the company, that just (with) what was going on inside the company, they need a dramatic shakeup," Bessent told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures" show.

Bessent also said Nvidia's board and outside counsel needed to answer, within the next 10 days, questions about the company's culture of compliance with export restrictions.

Nvidia's board has approached British chipmaker Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas in its search for a potential replacement for Huang, the Financial Times said on Friday.

(Reporting by Douglas Gillison; Writing by David Ljunggren; Editing by Sergio Non and Louise Heavens)