Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had an affair with health executive at firm, says New York Times

Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang, whose relationship with a woman US officials reportedly believe to have been a Chinese spy is under close scrutiny, also had an affair with an executive who reports to him, the New York Times reported on Nov 11. Huang had a relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice-president of healthcare, the Times reported, citing unidentified people who worked at the company. Huang and Powell were captured on video being affectionate at a hotel in San Jose, California, during an Nvidia conference in March, according to the Times.Nvidia and Powell did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Times report. The report threatens to deepen a crisis for Nvidia’s board, which is already investigating whether Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort. Huang’s admission over the weekend of an affair has already shined a light on Nvidia’s lack of a succession plan for Huang and reinforced how inseparable the 63-year-old CEO is from the company and its success.Shares of Nvidia dropped about 3% in extended trading to US$168.71 at about 5:10pm New York time. That was after closing at US$173.73 on Nov 10.Huang’s potential exit would reverberate far beyond the company’s operations, and not just because Nvidia is the dominant maker of chips at the heart of the AI boom.Huang is a consummate dealmaker and has used the company’s vast resources to invest in the AI supply chain and a variety of start-ups. He is also a top evangelist for the AI revolution itself, downplaying fears about the risks to humanity and talking up the benefits.On Nov 8, Huang admitted to having an affair with Alice Huang, who is reportedly suspected of spying on behalf of China. Alice Huang was an executive at Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based firm that was spun out of a Chinese gaming enterprise. That data centre company, which is Nvidia’s largest South-east Asian customer, has been under US investigation for months related to potential chip smuggling, Bloomberg has reported. Megaspeed and Nvidia have denied wrongdoing. BLOOMBERG