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Controversy surrounding the leadership of leading artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia has deepened after a new report alleged that former chief executive Jensen Huang had an affair with a third woman, emerging just hours after his resignation. According to the report, Huang was involved in an intimate relationship with another female Nvidia employee, distinct from two earlier cases involving Singaporean executive Alice Huang and Nvidia vice president Kimberly Powell. The identity of the third woman has not been made public, and Nvidia has not issued an official response to the new claims. Following the escalating row, Nvidia’s board of directors accepted Huang’s resignation and appointed chief financial officer Colette Kress as interim chief executive while the company searches for a permanent replacement.
Allegations of a Third Relationship and Earlier Reports
The third alleged relationship surfaced in a report published on November 13, citing two people familiar with the matter. They claimed Huang had an intimate relationship with a female employee at the company, though efforts to reach her were unsuccessful and her name remains undisclosed. Days earlier, on November 11, another report alleged that Huang had a relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of global healthcare, who reported directly to him. Both were reportedly married at the time, and the two were allegedly seen getting close at a hotel during an Nvidia conference in San Jose in March. Powell joined Nvidia in 2008 and oversaw AI and computing platforms for medical imaging, life sciences, drug discovery, and healthcare analytics. The company declined to comment on that report.
Espionage Concerns and Singapore’s Action
The wider controversy began on November 8 when Nvidia’s board announced an independent investigation into reports that Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. On the same day, Huang publicly admitted to a relationship with one woman and expressed regret, stating there was no excuse for his mistake. The woman identified in that case was Alice Huang, whose Chinese name is Huang Le, a senior executive at Singapore-based data center firm Megaspeed International. Not related to Jensen Huang, she previously worked as a television journalist in China before entering the data center industry. U.S. intelligence agencies alleged she was gathering information for China, though those espionage claims have not been independently verified and Beijing has publicly denied them.
Megaspeed International drew scrutiny as a major Nvidia customer that purchased over $4.8 billion worth of chips in two years and was already under U.S. Commerce Department investigation over possible diversion of restricted AI chips to China. In February, Singapore’s government issued Alice Huang a stern warning and barred her from re-entering the country after accusing her of providing false information to downplay her role during an inquiry into Megaspeed’s operations. Singapore clarified it had not investigated the U.S. espionage claims. She reportedly traveled briefly to China in late 2024, was last seen in Beijing, and no longer works at Megaspeed.
- Leadership Shake-Up, Market Drop, and Congressional Testimony
Alongside naming Kress as interim CEO while she retains her CFO duties, Nvidia’s board appointed Harvey C. Jones, a director since 1993, as its first chairman, and is weighing both internal and external candidates for a permanent chief executive. The turmoil hit Nvidia’s stock, pushing its market capitalization below $4 trillion. After closing at $173.73 on Wednesday, shares dropped more than 13 percent in early trading Thursday before recovering slightly to trade over six percent lower. Meanwhile, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast confirmed that Jensen Huang agreed to testify before lawmakers under oath before November 26, following warnings of a potential subpoena. Key questions remain unanswered, including the findings of the board’s inquiry, whether Huang disclosed the relationships earlier, and whether any confidential data reached China.
