Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang steps down after affair reports

Jensen Huang is stepping down as Nvidia’s CEO after reports of two extramarital relationships, including one with a woman whom U.S. intelligence officials believed had been recruited to spy on him for China, according to The New York Times. His departure leaves the chipmaker facing its first leadership change since he co-founded it more than three decades ago.

Nvidia has appointed Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO. NPR reported that the company’s board said it would conduct a full search and consider internal and external candidates. NPR also reported that Nvidia still planned to announce quarterly earnings on Tuesday.

The allegations emerged in stages. In late October, The New York Times reported that Huang had a close relationship with a Chinese woman at a Singapore-based company that bought Nvidia chips. Citing unidentified sources, the Times said U.S. intelligence officials believed she had been recruited by China’s top spy agency to gather information about Huang and possibly influence policy. NPR said it had not independently confirmed that reporting. China’s foreign ministry called the spying allegations baseless and part of a smear campaign against China.

Later reports described the relationship as romantic. Nvidia launched an investigation, and Huang acknowledged in an email to staff on Sunday that he had been unfaithful to his wife and would cooperate with the inquiry, according to NPR. Nvidia’s shares dropped sharply on Wednesday after the Times reported that Huang, 63, had also had an affair with a company executive who reported to him.

Huang was the public face of a company central to the artificial intelligence industry. Nvidia’s chips power AI systems used by companies including Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic. NPR reported that Nvidia was valued at more than $4 trillion, up from about $400 billion when OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022.

Born in Taiwan in 1963, Huang moved to the United States with his family as a child. He studied electrical engineering at Oregon State University and Stanford University, worked at AMD and co-founded Nvidia in 1993. The company began by making chips for computer graphics before expanding into the processing hardware used to develop AI.

Huang’s leather jacket and frequent public appearances made him an unusually recognizable technology executive. He also cultivated ties with political leaders, including President Donald Trump, who called him “honourable” after the first affair became public. Huang has described AI as a “new industrial revolution” comparable to the advent of electricity.

His exit puts succession in focus at a company closely identified with its co-founder. In a mid-October interview with Bloomberg, Huang said he hoped Nvidia’s next CEO was already at the company, while expressing hope that he could stay in the job for another 20 years. His adult children, Madison and Spencer, both work at Nvidia; Huang said either would have to earn the role.

“There’s no obvious replacement,” Stephen Witt, author of a book about Nvidia, told NPR. “It’s not even clear Nvidia can be the same kind of company without Jensen.”