Nvidia magnate Jensen Huang resigned this Thursday following an investigation into his relationships with a suspected Chinese spy and with two of his subordinates at the company.
The American magnate of Taiwanese origin — who was married — held the positions of president, chief executive officer, and member of the board of directors of the artificial intelligence giant he founded 30 years ago, and stepped down after admitting he had been unfaithful to his wife.
"Jensen's contributions to Nvidia are profound," the company said in a press release announcing his resignation. "Nvidia is one of the most consequential technology companies in the world. The Board of Directors and the company thank Jensen for his invaluable contributions to the company and to the industry."
This comes after a New York Times investigation revealed that Huang, 63 — who has two children with his wife Lori Huang, 64 — had been the target of an espionage plot.
He confessed to having had an affair with Alice Huang, a Chinese executive at a company based in Singapore, who was allegedly recruited by the Chinese government. Jensen Huang agreed to testify before Congress at some point before Thanksgiving, according to Brian Mast, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Since the affair with the suspected Chinese spy came to light, several former Nvidia employees have cla…
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Nvidia magnate Jensen Huang resigned this Thursday following an investigation into his relationships with an alleged Chinese spy and with two of his subordinates at the company. The US magnate of Taiwanese origin — who was married — held the positions of president, chief executive, and board member of the artificial intelligence giant he founded 30 years ago, and stepped down after admitting he had been unfaithful to his wife.
"Jensen's contributions to Nvidia are profound," the company said in a press release announcing his resignation. "Nvidia is one of the most consequential technology companies in the world. The Board of Directors and the company thank Jensen for his invaluable contributions to the company and the industry."
This came after a New York Times investigation revealed that Huang, 63 — who has two children with his wife Lori Huang, 64 — had been the target of an espionage scheme. Alice Huang alongside Jensen Huang. He confessed to having had an affair with Alice Huang, a Chinese executive at a company based in Singapore, who was allegedly recruited by the Chinese government.
Jensen Huang agreed to testify before Congress at some point before Thanksgiving, according to Brian Mast, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Since the affair with the alleged Chinese spy became known, several former Nvidia employees have also claimed that the billionaire had another extramarital relationship, this time with Kimberly Powell, 48, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare. That relationship would have violated the company's code of conduct, which stipulates that employees must "avoid situations in which our actions conflict," including "personal relationships." This second extramarital relationship was revealed by the New York Times. The executive reportedly appeared in a video showing affection toward Huang at a hotel in San Jose, California, during a company conference held in March.
Nvidia has about 60 executives who report directly to Jensen Huang. Kimberly Powell is one of them. She's been Nvidia's vice president of healthcare since 2017. The New York Times reports she and Huang were seen being affectionate at a hotel in March. Follow along on Yahoo… pic.twitter.com/md5wXFx7W5— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) November 12, 2026
Both also attended the Nvidia GTC conference in Berlin at the end of October. However, around the same time, Powell was seen wearing her engagement ring, the Daily Mail noted.
Powell graduated from Northeastern University in 2001 with a degree in electrical and computer engineering. She also earned a graduate certificate in project management from Boston University in 2006 and completed an executive education program at the MIT Sloan School of Management in 2007, before joining Nvidia in 2008 as a business development employee focused on higher education and the healthcare sector. In 2017 she was promoted to vice president of the company's healthcare business.
According to her LinkedIn profile, her role consists of "driving worldwide promotion and go-to-market strategy for Nvidia's visual computing platforms in the higher education and healthcare sectors. Managing and leading virtual teams to discover emerging markets and establish strategic technology alliances with leading universities and Fortune 100 healthcare companies."
A New York Post report notes that Powell's online activity indicates she is married and has two children. However, her husband's identity is unknown.
In an episode of the podcast "Lifers with Christina Farr" aired in August, Farr asked Powell how long she had been working at Nvidia. "Eighteen wonderful years," Powell replied, according to CNN.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported this Thursday that Jensen Huang had an intimate relationship with a second employee, according to two people familiar with the matter. Reuters did not reveal the name of the second employee. Attempts to contact her were unsuccessful, the agency said.
Jensen Huang acknowledged having had a romantic relationship in a statement on November 8, after reports emerged about his connection with Alice Huang, though without mentioning her by name.
The magnate has been married to Lori Huang since 1985. They met as students at Oregon State University and have been together ever since. The couple has two children, who work at the company.
Alice Huang in Beijing
This week, the independent directors of Nvidia's board appointed the prestigious law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct an "exhaustive and independent" investigation into Jensen Huang's relationship with the alleged Chinese spy.
Alice Huang, the woman at the center of the scandal engulfing Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, has returned to China and is in Beijing, according to Bloomberg's exclusive reporting. The chipmaker is investigating spying allegations denied by Beijing. @allenwan290 reports:… pic.twitter.com/kJThxFbmBK— Bloomberg (@business) November 12, 2026
Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, is reportedly living in Beijing with the knowledge of Chinese officials, though it is unclear when or why she traveled to the city or what contacts she may have maintained since her arrival, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in recent days that reports of Alice Huang's alleged espionage activity "lack any basis" and are "pure slander," while Nvidia maintains it has no evidence that trade secrets or information related to US national security were compromised.
Her husband introduced them
But The Wall Street Journal reported this Thursday that Jensen Huang was introduced to Alice Huang, who would become his romantic interest, by a Chinese businessman he had known for a decade: Kang Wei. The point is that Kang was also the alleged spy's husband, according to people who know the couple.
According to these sources, for two years Kang appeared to accept his wife's romantic relationship with the Nvidia chief executive and spoke openly about the closeness between the two. At times, Kang would tell those close to him — half-jokingly — that she was Jensen Huang's personal assistant, they said.
Kang Wei: Who is Alice Huang's 'secret' husband? 🧵— Firstpost (@firstpost) November 11, 2026
The introduction to the chief executive at the center of the global AI boom is the clearest example of how Kang and Alice Huang leveraged their personal connections to advance various business ventures in China, Singapore, Taiwan, and elsewhere, the newspaper noted.
Over the past decade, Kang and Alice Huang have jumped from one lucrative opportunity to another — video game companies, pharmaceutical acquisitions, and cloud computing — weaving in each case a web of interrelated entities, transferring stakes among them, and leveraging any connection within their reach, according to people familiar with the couple's business dealings.
Nvidia's AI chips were the latest bet of a duo with a track record of capitalizing on booming businesses and that has, at times, run into trouble with regulators. The couple is currently the subject of a series of investigations, and the scope of their ties to Jensen Huang continues to expand. US officials believe China's intelligence services recruited Alice Huang as a source because of her access to the top chip designer.
SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk said it would be "an honor" to hire embattled Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, after reports emerged that Nvidia's board could be preparing to oust Huang from the company. Late Wednesday stateside, financial blog Zerohedge wrote on X, "Elon please… pic.twitter.com/ERjVDw2Opi— CNBC (@CNBC) November 12, 2026
Kang, who is in his early 50s, was a prominent fund manager in China before striking out on his own and founding, in 2010, a company called Shanghai Hexi. Alice Huang, who is now around 50, earned a master's degree in media management from Hong Kong Baptist University in the late 2000s, according to a person who was in the same program.
Although it has not been possible to determine when they met, Shanghai Hexi — a name meaning "harmonious prosperity" — became the hub of their relationship, which was closely tied to their business activities. According to corporate records, the two began running the firm together in 2016.
Alice Huang met with Jensen Huang on several occasions during 2024 and 2025, according to photographs and people who crossed paths with both. Taiwanese local media captured Jensen Huang's daughter cheerfully taking photos of the two during a dinner in May 2025.
The CEO's resignation amounts to a corporate earthquake on Wall Street. Until a few days ago, Nvidia was the largest company in the world. Praised and admired for its growth capacity in a high value-added and fiercely competitive sector. It was also the symbol of American primacy in the AI sector vis-à-vis China.
Huang's resignation marks the end of an era in which he drove the global boom of the new technology, becoming a key figure in the sector with great influence on geopolitics. Born in Taiwan and raised in Oregon, he played an important role as a link between Asia and Washington. His departure exposes Nvidia's serious governance deficiencies, leaving one of the world's three largest companies without a clear leader. It also highlights the risks, for US national security, of a company of this size and importance, which controls 90% of the global chip market.
US intelligence services investigated Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, the businesswoman who allegedly reported to Beijing authorities, for months. The FBI is investigating the matter, US President Donald Trump announced this week; Trump maintains a close relationship with the Nvidia CEO.
Jensen Huang made remarks early this year that now seem prophetic. "The secret to staying CEO for so long is, first, not getting fired and, second, not getting bored," he said at an event in Las Vegas last January. "I don't know which of the two comes first. How long (will I remain CEO)? As long as I deserve it," he insisted.