From CNBC · Luke Fountain · · 4m
Lutnick's sons' firm cuts Nvidia stake as spy scandal widens
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick faced pressure over chip smuggling while his sons' Wall Street firm sold half its Nvidia shares and financed deals across the chipmaker's empire.
In brief
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick faced pressure over chip smuggling while his sons' Wall Street firm sold half its Nvidia shares and financed deals across the chipmaker's empire. Cantor Fitzgerald, run by Commerce Secretary Lutnick's sons, sold nearly half its Nvidia shares between September twenty twenty-five and…
Lutnick's firm cuts Nvidia stake sharply
Cantor Fitzgerald reported a nearly fifty percent decline in Nvidia shares between September twenty twenty-five and March twenty twenty-six, dropping from 3.5 million to 1.78 million shares.
The timing raises conflict questions
The share decline coincided with White House pressure on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to crack down on Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company suspected of funneling Nvidia's advanced AI chips to China.
Lutnick resisted the crackdown
According to Axios, Lutnick repeatedly resisted efforts by White House and U.S. intelligence officials to impose restrictions on companies suspected of smuggling Nvidia chips to China.
Lutnick received classified warnings
By late September, Lutnick had received a highly classified intelligence memo detailing concerns about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's relationship with a suspected Chinese spy, Axios reported.
Cantor hosted Huang despite concerns
In late September, Cantor Fitzgerald hosted Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and other top executives for investor meetings in New York, after Lutnick had received the classified warning.
Cantor maintained bullish stance
On October third, Cantor analyst C.J.Muse maintained an overweight rating on Nvidia with a three hundred fifty dollar price target, writing the firm continued to view NVDA as the best risk or reward in coverage.
“We continue to view NVDA as the best risk/reward in our coverage”
Cantor's sons now run the firm
Cantor Fitzgerald is now led by Howard Lutnick's sons, Brandon and Kyle, after Lutnick left Wall Street to become Commerce Secretary in February twenty twenty-five.
Ethics expert flags appearance problem
Richard Painter, former White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, said while there is no proof of wrongdoing, the appearance does not look great and Lutnick's conversations with his sons better be about…
“the appearance doesn't look great”
Cantor financed Nvidia's business partners
Cantor helped arrange billions of dollars in financing for companies in Nvidia's AI business universe while maintaining close ties to the chipmaker's leadership, securities filings show.
Three billion dollar IREN deal
On May twelve, as Trump headed to China, IREN announced pricing of a convertible bond offering that raised three billion dollars when it closed two days later.Cantor was one of seven bookrunners on the deal.
Nvidia and IREN announced partnership
On May seventh, Nvidia and Australia-based cloud computing provider IREN announced a five-year, three point four billion dollar cloud computing contract and a strategic partnership giving Nvidia the right to invest up to two point…
Cantor held major IREN position
By the end of June, Cantor reported one hundred fifteen million dollars in IREN shares and three hundred sixty-two million dollars in Nvidia shares.
Cantor advised Lancium financing
In October twenty twenty-five, Cantor advised AI infrastructure developer Lancium on a six hundred million dollar financing deal to support its data center campus in Abilene, Texas, the first site of Stargate.
Nvidia later invested in Lancium
Ten months later, Nvidia agreed to invest two billion dollars for a roughly twenty percent stake in Lancium, with up to one billion dollars more tied to future milestones, The Information reported in August.
Senators demand records on Nvidia exports
On Wednesday, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons demanded that Howard Lutnick, Marco Rubio and Stephen Miller preserve records on Nvidia's chip exports to China and intelligence warnings about Jensen Huang.
Treasury says Commerce delayed action
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that Treasury, Defense, State and the Trade Representative all favored putting Megaspeed on the entity list for months, pointing to Commerce as responsible for the delay.
Trump backs Lutnick despite scandal
A White House official told Reuters on Thursday that President Trump maintains complete confidence in Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, even as scrutiny of his handling of Nvidia intensifies.
The key point
Cantor Fitzgerald, run by Commerce Secretary Lutnick's sons, sold nearly half its Nvidia shares between September twenty twenty-five and March twenty twenty-six while maintaining extensive business ties to the chipmaker, raising ethics questions about potential conflicts of interest.
