Daniel Wolfram
A third scandal hits the former tech CEO amid mounting pressure from Washington.
It feels like Groundhog Day covering Jensen Huang and his escapades here on Dagens.
Last week, The New York Times reported that the now former Nvidia CEO was having an extramarital affair with a Chinese woman who then turned out to be a spy. Then Dagens covered Huang bizarrely trying to AI-alter his leather jacket to make it look like it was from Saint Laurent.
Huang was then forced to resign yesterday after a second affair, this time with an American woman working for his company.
But the scandals just do not stop for Huang. A third affair has now been uncovered.
Three affairs
After Jensen Huang had to resign and the Nvidia stock dropped 10%, shedding almost $1.6 trillion in just a week, many thought the Huang scandals would die down — at least just for the weekend. They were wrong.
Because the revelations did not end there. A third affair and a second intimate relationship involving another Nvidia employee have now emerged, according to Reuters.
Nvidia declined to comment. Neither Huang nor a board representative answered requests for comment from Reuters or Dagens.
A trillion dollar downfall
The downfall began on Sunday. The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence suspected his ties to a Chinese citizen named Alice Huang. American officials feared she was gathering information for Beijing.
A second affair, involving Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare, then became public on Wednesday. Five former colleagues told the Times about the relationship.
Later that day, the crisis hit a breaking point for Huang. The Wall Street Journal reported that directors were pushing the 63-year-old out. He ultimately resigned yesterday morning.
Washington wants answers
Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will serve as interim chief. In its public announcement, the board chose to thank the founder rather than mention the scandals.
But lawmakers in Washington are not done with the Chinese spy story. They are demanding answers from the man who led the tech giant and made Nvidia into one of the biggest companies ever.
Pressure is mounting from both sides of the aisle. Republican chairs from three House committees gave Huang until Friday evening to agree to a closed-door interview. According to Newsweek, Representative John Moolenaar called the exit “an unfortunate end that could have been avoided.”
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Trump still has Huang’s back
The spy allegations are still debated. Multiple sources told CNN that current intelligence does not prove Alice Huang was working for the Chinese government.
Democratic Senator from Massachusetts Elizabeth Warren argues that Huang’s resignation “does not absolve” him or the company “for putting our national security at risk.”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has stood by Huang throughout all this, calling him an “honorable man” and urging him to keep fighting for his job in a phone call, according to the Times.
