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After Nvidia investigated Jen-Hsun Huang's extramarital affair with alleged Chinese spy Alice Huang, the New York Times reported that Jen-Hsun Huang had also developed an extramarital affair with another senior employee.
Nvidia's stock price fell sharply afterwards. "Bloomberg" quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Nvidia's board of directors is working with an outside company to find Huang Renxun's potential successor; Huang Le, who was involved in the scandal and was suspected of engaging in Chinese espionage, is said to have returned to China.
As of late Wednesday (11th), Nvidia's board of directors had not issued a statement. BBC reporters contacted many company representatives and board members, but received no reply.
Jen-Hsun Huang reportedly had an extramarital affair with a subordinate
The New York Times reported on Wednesday (11th) that five anonymous people who had worked at Nvidia revealed that Huang had an extramarital affair with a senior person who reported directly to him.
The relationship, which has not been revealed before, involves Kimberly Powell, vice president of Nvidia's healthcare business. Both Huang and Powell are married.
The report quoted the five sources as saying that the relationship between Huang and Powell has been discussed within the company. A reporter from this newspaper once called Huang Jen-Hsun to ask about his relationship with Powell.
Huang Jen-Hsun replied: "I don't think you should talk to me directly about this matter." Then hung up the phone.
Nvidia's internal code of conduct states that employees should avoid "situations where their conduct creates a conflict of interest," including "personal relationships." The company also said it would "expeditiously investigate reports of misconduct."
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Nvidia declined to comment, and Powell did not immediately respond to inquiries.
Powell joined Nvidia in 2008 and was appointed vice president of healthcare operations by the end of 2017. She frequently represents the company at technology conferences and delivers speeches.
The New York Times reported that in March this year, Powell attended Nvidia’s annual developer conference GTC in San Jose. Three people familiar with the incident said that someone witnessed Huang Jen-Hsun and Powell being intimate at the hotel, and one of them filmed the interaction between the two on his mobile phone.
Sources said Huang Jen-Hsun's security personnel noticed the filming and took him aside and asked him to sign a confidentiality agreement. The BBC was unable to independently verify the incident.
Nvidia board of directors looking for successor
Nvidia shares fell 8.6% in after-hours trading as reports of a second extramarital affair came to light.
Grindr CEO George Arison said in a recent interview with BBC North America technology affairs reporter Lily Jamali: "Huang Renxun is one of the most important entrepreneurs in the United States." At that time, the possibility of Huang Renxun leaving the company was far less high than it is today.
This is because Huang Renxun's successor candidates are few and far between. One of those picks is Nvidia co-founder Chris Malachowsky. Like Huang Renxun, he has joined the company since Nvidia was founded and has been responsible for product engineering work for many years. He is also the only senior executive in the company with similar qualifications to Huang Renxun.
Although Huang Renxun's children also hold management positions at Nvidia, they are relatively young and have little experience. To permanently replace Huang, the company will likely need to hire someone from the outside.
"Bloomberg" cited people familiar with the matter on Wednesday (11th) saying that Nvidia's board of directors is working with an outside company to find a potential successor to Huang Jen-Hsun; the board of directors is also considering appointing an interim CEO. Nvidia has not commented on this.
Huang Le is said to have returned to China
"Bloomberg" quoted people familiar with the matter on Thursday (12th) as saying that Alice Huang Le, a woman involved in an extramarital affair and accused of being involved in Chinese espionage activities, has returned to China.
The person familiar with the matter revealed that Huang Le is currently living in Beijing and the security department is aware of this. But she said it was unclear when and why she went to Beijing, and what activities she might be engaged in.
Alice Huang is a Chinese citizen from Hunan. She went to Hong Kong Baptist University to study for a master's degree and later obtained Hong Kong permanent resident status.
According to reports from the New York Times and Financial Times, she served as the managing director of Megaspeed, a Singapore data center company, from March to November 2023, and later called herself CEO.
The company, which was spun off from Chinese gaming company Seventh Avenue, purchases large quantities of Huida GPUs and leases computing power to Chinese companies such as Alibaba, which has triggered a U.S. investigation into circumventing export controls.
According to Hong Kong media "Hong Kong 01"'s search in Hong Kong, Singapore and the mainland, Zhonghuangle has registered several Hong Kong companies this year and is also a director of "Nanjing Leading Technology" (T3 Travel). The company submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this year but was rejected.
An investigative report by CNN stated that Huang Le had entered the United States ten times with a Chinese passport since 2017.
Huang Le was accused of entering Taiwan multiple times as a Hong Kong resident. Qiu Chuizheng, chairman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, said that Huang Le had records of entering Taiwan in 2024 and 2025, 3 times in 2024 and 5 times in 2025, a total of 8 times, but there is no record this year. He pointed out that now that her identity is known, her entry permit will be controlled in accordance with the law.
Taiwan's Minister of the Interior Liu Shifang also said that the Immigration Department has revoked Huang Le's entry and exit permit, and it is impossible to come to Taiwan again.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs firmly denied the accusation that Huang Le had engaged in espionage activities, calling the accusation "challenging rumors and slandering."
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