Businessupdated 27m ago3 min read
Archive photo · 30 April 2026Nvidia Board Launches Probe Into Jensen Huang After Trump Says FBI Investigates Affair
“The Nvidia chief executive had a romantic relationship with Kimberly Powell, the chipmaker’s vice-president of healthcare”
“US intelligence officials believed that Chinese businesswoman Alice Huang, who had a close relationship with Nvidia chief executive and co-founder Jensen Huang, was a spy for Beijing”
Photo: Anderseidesvik, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Nvidia board hires law firm to investigate Huang's alleged affair with Alice Huang. Trump says FBI is investigating Huang's affair, intensifying scrutiny.
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Board probes Huang
Nvidia’s board moved to hold urgent talks about the future of founder and CEO Jensen Huang after revelations that he had an affair with Kimberly Powell, the company’s vice-president of healthcare, and after Donald Trump said the FBI was investigating allegations that Huang was romantically involved with an alleged Chinese spy. Nvidia’s board also launched an investigation after Huang admitted to having an affair, two days after the FT reported he was romantically involved with Alice Huang, an executive at an Nvidia customer, and on Tuesday the board said it had hired a former federal prosecutor to lead the probe. Nvidia’s shares dropped more than 8 percent in after-hours trading after The New York Times reported the relationship with Powell and The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia’s board could oust Huang.
Nvidia said it does not believe US national security had been compromised and added that Jensen Huang is committed to continuing to lead the company, while a BBC account said the company opened an independent investigation into the affair. The BBC also reported that US intelligence officials believed Chinese businesswoman Alice Huang, who had a close relationship with Jensen Huang, was a spy for Beijing, and China rejected the spying allegations through Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun.
Trump, China, and lawyers
Donald Trump told reporters that the FBI was looking into the situation and said he spoke with Jensen Huang, adding, "He said he had absolutely no idea that the person in question was a spy."
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun rejected the spying allegations, saying: "The allegations about Chinese spies are entirely groundless, speculative and intended to smear and malign China."
Nvidia’s board said it had confidence in the CEO and his leadership team, and the company said its inquiry would examine all available information while it said it had no reason to believe that either US national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised.
Nvidia hired the New York-based firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to lead the probe, and the company’s announcement came as lawmakers demanded investigations and new export restrictions on advanced chips.
Ann Lipton, a University of Colorado law professor who follows boardroom issues, said, "There have definitely been affair scandals and sexual-harassment scandals. But honey-pot scandals? No," describing the espionage ploy as one where an operative entraps a target by feigning romantic interest.
Market, lawsuits, and risk
Shareholders accused Nvidia and Jensen Huang of concealing a relationship with a woman identified by U.S. intelligence services as a possible Chinese agent, and a class action was filed on November 9, 2026 in a federal court in San Jose, California. The lawsuit sought damages whose amount had not yet been specified, and the filing argued that Nvidia and Huang misled the market by not disclosing a personal relationship that plaintiffs said could compromise the company’s reputation and business prospects. Nvidia lost about $190 billion in market value after shares closed Monday down 4.3%, and the scandal also drove Nvidia’s stock down more than 5% this week, according to CNN en Español.
The Korea Times reported that Nvidia shed about $430 billion in market value over two sessions as new reports deepened questions about Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang, and it said the controversy escalated as allegations emerged that Huang’s relationship aided at least $7.5 billion in Nvidia chip shipments to China. Nvidia’s board said it had no reason to believe that corporate secrets or national security interests had been compromised and confirmed that Huang would remain CEO during the investigation, while the Straits Times said the scandal could jeopardise the entire artificial-intelligence sector and leave the board facing questions about what it knew and when.