Jensen Huang Admits Affair as Nvidia’s Board Opens Investigation
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The head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker has had to explain himself to his own work force: Jensen Huang has admitted in an email to Nvidia employees that he was unfaithful to his wife. „I was unfaithful to my wife,“ Mr. Huang wrote, according to Bloomberg. „There is no excuse for what I did.“ At the same time, Nvidia’s board of directors has opened an independent investigation into reports that Mr. Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort.
How We Got Here
The story began in late October with a report in The New York Times. It said U.S. intelligence agencies considered Alice Huang, an executive at the Nvidia customer Megaspeed in Singapore, a source for Beijing, and that she had been in close contact with Jensen Huang. The two are not related. Megaspeed is suspected of moving Nvidia chips into China in violation of U.S. export controls.
In recent days, The Times and The Financial Times added more: Alice Huang reportedly worked directly for China’s Ministry of State Security, tasked with persuading the Nvidia chief to lobby for chip exports to China. According to a U.S. government memo reported by the FT, U.S. officials also believe the two had a romantic relationship. Nvidia initially declined to comment.
The Admission
Now Mr. Huang has responded. „I owe my family and all of you an apology,“ he wrote in the email, first reported by Axios. „My actions hurt her and our children,“ he added, saying he was deeply sorry. He said he took full responsibility and had fallen short of his duties to Nvidia’s board, shareholders and employees. Leading Nvidia is „the privilege of my life,“ he wrote, pledging to earn back employees‘ confidence. The excerpts made public do not name Alice Huang. Mr. Huang has been married to his wife, Lori, for 41 years.
What the Board Is Investigating
In a statement, the board announced an independent investigation into reports that Mr. Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort. A committee of independent directors, assisted by outside independent counsel, will oversee it. Nvidia did not name the directors or the law firm. The board said it „will examine all available information“ but „has no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised.“ At the same time, it stood by its chief: The board „has confidence in Jensen and his leadership team,“ and Mr. Huang „fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it.“
Mr. Huang will remain chief executive while the investigation is underway, according to Bloomberg. The statement does not mention China, Megaspeed or the Ministry of State Security.
Who Sits on the Board
Nvidia’s board has 11 members, 10 of whom are considered independent. Strikingly, many have served for a long time: Besides Mr. Huang himself, Tench Coxe (68), formerly of the investment firm Sutter Hill Ventures, and Harvey C. Jones (73) of Square Wave Ventures have been on the board since the company’s founding in 1993. Mark A. Stevens (66) of S-Cubed Capital served from 1993 to 2006 and returned in 2008.
Three members hold the key roles. The lead independent director is Stephen C. Neal (77), chairman emeritus of the law firm Cooley, who also chairs the nominating and corporate governance committee. The audit committee is led by A. Brooke Seawell (78), a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates and a director since 1997. The compensation committee is chaired by Dawn Hudson (68), a former chief marketing officer of the N.F.L. and former chief executive of Pepsi-Cola North America.
Younger and newer members include John O. Dabiri (46), a professor at the California Institute of Technology, and Aarti Shah (61), a former chief information and digital officer at the drugmaker Eli Lilly, both since 2020. Melissa B. Lora (63), a former president of Taco Bell International, joined in 2023, and Suzanne Nora Johnson (68), a former vice chairman of Goldman Sachs, only in July. Nvidia has not said which of them sit on the investigating committee.
What Could Happen Next
Much depends on what the investigation turns up. The next hurdle is in Washington: The chairmen of the House committees on China, foreign affairs and intelligence want Mr. Huang to attend a closed-door briefing in mid-November, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, is also pressing Mr. Huang and the board for answers.
The affair is also awkward for Nvidia’s export agenda. Mr. Huang personally lobbied President Trump earlier this year to allow sales of H200 chips to China. If it is confirmed that this was precisely the goal of the spying operation, Nvidia’s influence in Washington could suffer.
Then there is the question of leadership. Personal misconduct has cost other tech chief executives their jobs: Intel’s Brian Krzanich resigned in 2018 over a relationship with an employee. But Mr. Huang is Nvidia’s founder, public face and strategic mind, so his departure would be a far bigger blow to the company. Investors‘ reaction to the admission will become clear on Monday. Nvidia is worth more than $4 trillion on the stock market.
No Proof of Leaked Secrets
For all the uproar, there is no proof so far that Mr. Huang passed on confidential information. The allegations about the spying operation rest on anonymous sources in the U.S. government, and the board says it sees no sign that secrets were compromised. Nvidia had previously stressed that it does not share confidential information with customers, and an internal review of the smuggling allegations against Megaspeed found no wrongdoing. John Rizzo, an Nvidia spokesman, said the disclosure „will not slow NVIDIA.“ The Chinese Embassy in Washington has dismissed the reports as smears.
