Nvidia Board Convenes as Huang's Leadership Faces Scrutiny Over Multiple Affairs
Nvidia's board is preparing for emergency discussions regarding founder Jensen Huang's position following disclosures of romantic relationships with company insiders, as federal investigators examine the matter.
An emergency session scheduled for Wednesday will see Nvidia's board address the future of founder and chief executive Jensen Huang, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. The gathering follows public revelations that Huang engaged in a romantic relationship with Kimberly Powell, the chipmaker's vice-president of healthcare and an 18-year company veteran who holds a prominent public profile at Nvidia.
The controversy has intensified following separate reports from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, which detailed the Powell relationship and suggested the board might move to remove Huang from his position. Trading in Nvidia shares fell more than 8 percent in after-hours activity following these disclosures. Neither Nvidia nor Powell responded to requests for comment.
This latest development compounds an existing crisis for Huang. On Sunday, he publicly acknowledged a separate affair, just two days after the Financial Times reported his involvement with Alice Huang, an executive at a company that buys from Nvidia. U.S. intelligence officials have assessed that Alice Huang was recruited by China's Ministry of State Security.
Despite the mounting pressure, Nvidia's board expressed confidence in Huang's continued leadership on Sunday, even as it launched an internal investigation into the matter. The board announced on Tuesday that it had retained a former federal prosecutor to oversee the inquiry.
The situation has drawn attention from Washington. President Donald Trump stated on Monday that the FBI was examining the circumstances. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have called for congressional investigations into Huang, whose influence on the administration's approach to artificial intelligence policy and semiconductor export restrictions has grown significantly.