NEED TO KNOW
- Jensen Huang has resigned as CEO of Nvidia, the second most valuable company in the world, which he founded
- Reuters reports he had a third extra-marital affair, though it didn’t name the woman
- This follows reports Huang had an affair with Alice Huang, believed by US intelligence to be a Chinese spy, and Kimberly Powell, an employee and direct report
It’s been a week from hell for Jensen Huang, who has resigned as CEO of Nvidia and now faces reports of a third extramarital affair, his second with an Nvidia employee.
On Friday, November 13 (our time), the BBC reported Huang had stepped down from the company he founded, and that chief financial officer Colette Kress had been appointed interim boss. Shortly after, Reuters reported Huang had an intimate relationship with a second employee, though it didn’t name them.
This follows reports of Huang’s extramarital affair with a woman named Alice Huang, whom US intelligence believes to be a Chinese spy, and a second affair with Nvidia employee and direct report Kimberly Powell.
Also on November 13, CBS News reported Huang has agreed to appear before the US Congress for questioning, with the date still being negotiated. The House Select Committee on China, House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Intelligence Committee sent Huang a letter on November 4 asking him to appear for a closed-door briefing, the outlet says.
The letter was to discuss “security protocols against foreign adversary espionage and your interactions with a publicly reported People’s Republic of China (PRC) intelligence asset.”
Huang’s downfall started in October last year, when The New York Times reported he’d allegedly had an affair with Alice Huang, an employee of Megaspeed**, a company that worked with Nvidia. US intelligence believes she is a Chinese spy.**
Roughly a year later, on November 9, Huang sent an email to Nvidia employees confessing to an affair and saying he’d let his family down, though he didn’t name Alice. The email prompted Nvidia’s board to launch an internal investigation.
On November 12, The New York Times published a new story alleging Huang had a second extramarital affair, this time with Kimberly Powell, an employee and one of his 60 or so direct reports. The publication said five people at the company had confirmed the relationship.
Following that news, The Wall Street Journal reported Nvidia’s board was preparing to oust Huang. But Huang made the decision himself, with Australians waking to the news on November 13 that he’d resigned. A few hours later, Reuters published a piece saying it had spoken to sources who confirmed a third extramarital affair, again with a Nvidia employee.
Nvidia is the world’s second most valuable company, according to Companies Market Cap. Huang’s resignation could disrupt the AI industry he helped shape, Reuters reports. Nvidia has used its financial strength to build an industry around AI through complex financial arrangements that make it easier to buy its chips, backing cloud computing companies and AI labs to do so.
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