The Week Jensen Huang Fell: How a Spy Scandal Toppled Nvidia’s CEO
Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia's CEO after 33 years following reports of extramarital affairs, including one with an executive U.S. intelligence suspected of having China ties.
The crisis began with reports that Huang had grown close to Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, one of Nvidia's largest Southeast Asian customers, whom U.S. intelligence officials reportedly suspected of gathering information for Beijing. For a company at the center of the U.S.-China chip fight, the national-security overtones were impossible to ignore.
On Nov. 8, Huang apologized for being "unfaithful" to his wife, acknowledging the relationship. What might have been a single lapse quickly snowballed when The New York Times reported a second affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of health care who reported directly to Huang.
By Thursday, Huang was out as president, CEO and board member. Chief financial officer Colette Kress was named interim CEO, and longtime director Harvey Jones took over as board chair. The abruptness stunned an industry accustomed to treating Huang as synonymous with Nvidia itself.
Multiple Affairs
A day after his resignation, Reuters reported a third relationship, an "intimate" one with a second unnamed Nvidia employee, citing two people familiar with the matter. Reuters did not identify her, and Nvidia declined to comment. Huang has acknowledged only the Alice Huang affair, deflecting when asked about Powell.
Market Reaction
Nvidia's stock cratered more than 14% at the open on Thursday before clawing back to close down about 4.6%. Wall Street quickly sorted winners from losers: rivals like AMD and Broadcom fared better, while companies tightly tied to Nvidia's business took the brunt.
a massive mistake
Aftermath
The scandal rippled outward. Singapore barred Alice Huang from returning to the country, Alibaba shares slid on reports it was a Megaspeed customer, and congressional committees had already sought a closed-door briefing from Huang over his Megaspeed ties.
Inside Nvidia, an internal suggestion-box post drew more than 1,600 comments, many pleading for Huang's return. The board has reportedly approached Arm CEO Rene Haas as a potential successor, though Nvidia called speculation about any candidate "premature." Analysts have also floated Nvidia's Ian Buck and AMD's Lisa Su.
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