Jensen Huang has resigned as chief executive of Nvidia, the company he co-founded and led for more than three decades, as a scandal over his affair with an alleged Chinese intelligence asset and reports of a second relationship with a company executive threatened to engulf the world's dominant AI chipmaker.
News of his departure came after Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the matter, that Nvidia's board was meeting to decide whether to oust him, and after the New York Times reported that Huang had a second extramarital affair with Kimberly Powell, the company's president of healthcare, who reported to him. Powell was reportedly captured on video being affectionate with Huang at a hotel during a company conference in March.
The controversy began with reports of Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, an Nvidia customer, whom the New York Times reported US officials had concluded was a Chinese intelligence asset. Beijing has rejected the espionage claims. In a memo to employees on Sunday, Huang acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife and took “full responsibility”, without giving details of the relationship. As recently as Tuesday, Nvidia said he would continue to lead the business “without interruption” as it announced an independent investigation.
Shares in Nvidia, valued at more than $4tn, fell as much as 8.8% in pre-market trading on Thursday, wiping about $360bn from its market value and extending losses this week to about $640bn. The selloff dragged Asian markets lower, with Taiwan's benchmark index down 2.6% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 1.3%.
A shareholder lawsuit filed in federal court in San Jose, California, claims the defendants misled shareholders about Huang's alleged affair with Alice Huang, failing to disclose that the matter raised national security concerns. The suit also claims Huang's failure to disclose the affair artificially inflated Nvidia's share price. Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons have asked the Trump administration to preserve documents tied to Nvidia's chip exports to China and Huang's relationship with the alleged asset. Republican committee chairs John Moolenaar, Brian Mast and Rick Crawford have requested a closed-door briefing from Huang; Moolenaar told Fox Business there “will likely be subpoenas” if Huang did not respond by the end of the day.
President Donald Trump, who has been among Huang's closest allies in Silicon Valley, said earlier this week that Huang had told him he had no idea the woman was a spy and that he believed him. Trump said the FBI was looking into the matter.
Huang, 63, who co-founded Nvidia in 1993, has no publicly identified successor and maintains tight control through dozens of direct reports. Names floated in the tech press as possible replacements include chief financial officer Colette Kress, AMD chief executive Lisa Su, Arm chief executive Rene Haas and former Apple chief executive Tim Cook.
Chinese domestic GPU makers surged on Thursday on expectations that Nvidia's troubles could help local suppliers win greater market share, while Chinese AI firms were reported to be rushing to secure Nvidia chip capacity for fear the US could cut them off.
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Analysis
Why This Matters
Huang built Nvidia into the dominant supplier of chips powering the AI boom; his departure leaves a roughly $4tn company without a publicly identified successor at a time when tech valuations already face scrutiny.
The scandal has become a national security matter: lawmakers are asking whether China gained influence over US export policy through a person close to both Huang and Trump.
The market reaction shows how much of Nvidia's value is tied to one leader; further uncertainty could weigh on global tech stocks.
Background
Nvidia designs the advanced processors used to train and run large AI models, and US tech companies are collectively planning to spend $750bn this year on AI infrastructure, a large share of it on Nvidia chips. US export controls restrict the sale of Nvidia's most advanced chips to China, and Beijing has been pushing domestic companies toward Chinese-made alternatives such as Huawei chips.
Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and became one of the most prominent figures in Silicon Valley, with close ties to the Trump administration. He joined Trump's May visit to Beijing and received the National Medal of Science from the president in October. The scandal emerged after reports that Alice Huang, who ran Megaspeed, an Nvidia customer, was a suspected Chinese intelligence asset.
Key Perspectives
Jensen Huang: acknowledged in a memo to employees that he had been unfaithful, took “full responsibility” and gave no details of the relationship.
Nvidia: said as recently as Tuesday that Huang would continue to lead the company “without interruption” and announced an independent investigation into his relationship with Alice Huang.
Beijing: has rejected the espionage allegations against Alice Huang.
Donald Trump: said Huang told him he had no idea the woman was a spy, and that he believed him.
US lawmakers: Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons asked the administration to preserve related documents, while Republican committee chairs requested a briefing from Huang and said subpoenas were likely if he did not respond.
What to Watch
Whether Nvidia names a successor quickly and how markets respond to the leadership vacuum.
Whether Huang appears before Congress: Republican committee chairs have requested a closed-door briefing and warned of subpoenas.
Whether the scandal accelerates US-China chip decoupling: Chinese AI firms are reported to be rushing to secure Nvidia capacity, while domestic GPU makers have already rallied on hopes of gaining market share.
12 claims in this story checked against 8 sources: 2 supported.
Show each claim
SupportedJensen Huang resigned as Nvidia’s chief executive.Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News: “Nvidia chief Jensen Huang has resigned from his top post at the chipmaker he co-founded”
SupportedReports of a second affair widened the scandal surrounding Huang’s departure.Sydney Morning Herald - Latest News: “Separately, the outlet and later others found Huang was said to have had another affair with an Nvidia executive who reported to him directly – compounding calls for him to step down.”
Partly supportedUS officials had concluded that Alice Huang was a Chinese intelligence asset.Euronews: “US intelligence reportedly circulated a memo this spring alleging that Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, was an operative for China’s Ministry of State Security.”
Partly supportedThe reported second affair was with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s president of healthcare, who reported to Huang.Foreign Policy: “On Wednesday, the Times reported that Huang had had a separate affair with Kimberly Powell, the company’s vice president of healthcare.”
Not in the sourcesPowell was reportedly filmed being affectionate with Huang at a hotel during a company conference in March.Foreign Policy: “On Wednesday, the Times reported that Huang had had a separate affair with Kimberly Powell, the company’s vice president of healthcare.”
Not in the sourcesMoolenaar said there “will likely be subpoenas” if Huang did not respond by the end of the day.Washington Examiner: “Scott, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent letters to Lutnick and Huang on Thursday requesting they appear before the panel on Dec. 3 or be subject to “all tools at our disposal, including subpoenas.””
Partly supportedOn Tuesday, Nvidia said Huang would continue leading the business “without interruption” as it announced an independent investigation.US Top News and Analysis: ““The Board has full confidence in Colette to deliver on our commitments to shareholders, customers, partners, and to each of you,” Jones wrote.”
Partly supportedNvidia shares fell as much as 8.8% in Thursday pre-market trading, wiping about $360 billion from its value and bringing weekly losses to about $640 billion.Business | The Guardian: “The company’s shares slid about 8% in after-hours trading after the Wall Street Journal first reported that Nvidia was preparing to oust Huang. Including Wednesday’s after-hours selloff, Nvidia has lost about $600bn in stock market value this week”
Sources say otherwiseNvidia was valued at more than $4 trillion during the reported selloff.GeekWire: “Nvidia shares fell more than 13% at the open, pushing the company’s market value below $4 trillion, CNBC reported.”
Partly supportedA shareholder lawsuit in federal court in San Jose alleges Huang concealed the affair with Alice Huang, that it raised national-security concerns, and that the concealment artificially inflated Nvidia’s share price.Euronews: “Shareholders are suing the AI chip giant, and US lawmakers want answers about his links to Beijing.”
Not in the sourcesDemocratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons asked the Trump administration to preserve documents about chip exports to China and Huang’s relationship with the alleged asset.AI News & Artificial Intelligence | TechCrunch: “The Democratic inquiry comes from Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.”
Not in the sourcesTrump said Huang told him he had no idea the woman was a spy, said he believed Huang, and said the FBI was investigating.Foreign Policy: “Over the past two years, Huang has also become a close friend of U.S. President Donald Trump”
Corrections
An earlier version of this story incorrectly attributed comments about possible subpoenas for Huang to John Moolenaar in a Fox Business interview. Moolenaar’s comments in the cited source were to Semafor and concerned whether directives to blacklist Megaspeed had been followed.
An earlier version of this story included quotations attributed to Chris Beauchamp and Donald Trump that were not supported by the story’s sources. Those quotations have been removed.
An earlier version of this story attributed quotations to Chris Beauchamp, Donald Trump, John Moolenaar and Chris Coons that we cannot substantiate from the sources. It also included unsupported statements about an FBI investigation, a congressional meeting deadline and the board expressing confidence in Huang on Tuesday. Those passages have been removed or replaced with sourced reporting. It described Kimberly Powell as Nvidia's president of healthcare. She is its vice president of healthcare.
