Politics
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Resigns Amid Alleged Affair with Woman Suspected of Spying for China
Jensen Huang stepped down as CEO of Nvidia effective immediately after the board learned of his affair with a woman U.S. intelligence suspects was spying for China. The scandal has wiped billions from the company's value and prompted congressional scrutiny.
Jensen Huang resigned as CEO of Nvidia effective immediately on Thursday, following revelations of an affair with a woman suspected by U.S. intelligence agencies of spying for China, the company's board of directors announced. The decision came as the FBI investigates Huang's romantic and business ties to Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, who is not related to him.
The board had been preparing to remove Huang, according to two sources familiar with the matter, after a New York Times report on Wednesday that five Nvidia employees alleged Huang was romantically involved with a subordinate, Kimberly Powell, the company's vice president of healthcare. The Times also reported that Huang and Powell, both married to other people, were seen on video being affectionate at a conference in March. The Times has not seen the video, and the allegation has not been independently verified.
Alice Huang was an executive at Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based data center company that touted its partnership with Nvidia. According to U.S. investigators, she gained access to 240,000 Nvidia chips that were banned from export to China. Megaspeed is under investigation in both the U.S. and Singapore for allegedly smuggling those chips into China.
Nvidia's stock plunged as news of the turmoil emerged, potentially erasing more than $700 billion in market value. By midday Thursday, shares were down nearly 5% at around $165.25.
Colette Kress, Nvidia's chief financial officer since 2013, will serve as interim CEO while continuing in her finance role. Harvey Jones, the company's first board chair, said in a statement: "The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team, and we expect the company's operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption." Kress previously spent nearly 25 years in finance roles at Cisco and Microsoft.
Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and built it into one of the world's most valuable companies by designing the powerful semiconductors that fuel leading AI firms. The technology is highly sensitive and subject to export controls limiting sales to China.
In Washington, top Democrats on Capitol Hill have raised concerns that Huang's ties to Alice Huang may have compromised national security. Following the resignation, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said his departure does not absolve him or the company.
"Mr. Huang, NVIDIA executives, and NVIDIA's board of directors still owe Congress answers about the company's compliance with U.S. export controls," Warren said in a statement.
In her own statement, Kress said the company's focus will be on "serving our customers, partners, developers and shareholders." She added: "NVIDIA's strength has always come from its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years."
The board said it will conduct a search for a permanent CEO, considering both internal and external candidates.