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Nvidia may fire Jensen Huang over ‘double affair’ with alleged spy and executive

By · Via Times of India · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The semiconductor giant's board is weighing the removal of its co-founder following multiple relationship disclosures, despite an initial inquiry finding no national security breaches. Congressional leaders have already requested private briefings regarding the matter, and the Justice Department is actively scrutinizing the customer entity linked to the suspected operative. The law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz was retained on November 8 to guide the board's independent review. The sudden turmoil highlights internal instability, compounded by the executive's historical refusal to establish formal succession plans.

Key points

  • Republican leaders of three House committees have officially demanded a closed-door brief…: Republican leaders of three House committees have officially demanded a closed-door briefing with the chief executive.
  • The company faces severe operational uncertainty because Jensen Huang never established a…: The company faces severe operational uncertainty because Jensen Huang never established a formal succession plan during his tenure.
  • An independent investigation launched by law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz initiall…: An independent investigation launched by law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz initially concluded that proprietary secrets and national security remained uncompromised.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Nvidia’s board is preparing to remove Jensen Huang as chief executive, The Wall Street Journal reports, three days after the same board said it trusted his leadership. The move follows Huang’s admission that he had an extramarital affair with Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive whom US intelligence officials believe works for China’s spy services. According to WSJ, Huang also had a second affair, with Kimberly Powell, the senior Nvidia executive who runs the company’s healthcare business.

The board was planning to meet as soon as Wednesday to decide his future, WSJ reported. Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and built a gaming chip startup into the AI industry’s main chip supplier, with an estimated 90% share of that market. Nvidia shares fell about 8% in after-hours trading on the news.

Nvidia board backed Jensen Huang just days before the ouster report

On November 8, Nvidia’s board opened an independent investigation into reports that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. At the time, it said it had “no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets…

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