Nvidia board to discuss Jensen Huang's future as second affair surfaces

Nvidia's board will hold urgent talks on Wednesday about the future of founder and chief executive Jensen Huang, after reports that he had an affair with Kimberly Powell, the chipmaker's vice-president of healthcare, according to people familiar with the matter.

The meeting lands in the middle of a deepening scandal at the $4.2 trillion company. 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 the board could move to oust Huang.

Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Powell could not be reached for comment.

Who is Kimberly Powell?

Powell is a more than 18-year veteran at Nvidia and one of the company's more prominent public figures, according to two people familiar with the matter. She leads the healthcare division of a chipmaker whose silicon now anchors the American artificial intelligence economy, and whose market value sits at roughly $4.2 trillion.

That scale is what turns a personal scandal into a market event. When the chief executive of a $4.2 trillion company becomes the subject of FBI attention and a potential boardroom removal, the after-hours drop of more than 8 percent is the market pricing both leadership risk and governance uncertainty at once.

The reports of a second relationship will pile pressure on Huang, who on Sunday admitted to having an affair. That admission came two days after the Financial Times reported he was romantically involved with Alice Huang, an executive at an Nvidia customer.

What does the FBI investigation involve?

The national security dimension is the part that has drawn Washington in. US intelligence believes Alice Huang had been recruited by China's Ministry of State Security spy agency, according to the reporting.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that the FBI was looking into the situation. Earlier, Trump had said the FBI was investigating allegations that Huang was romantically involved with an alleged Chinese spy.

The stakes run beyond one company. Huang has become an influential voice in the president's circle on US AI policy and export controls — the very policy arena where questions about Chinese intelligence access to American technology executives carry the most weight. Senior Republicans and Democrats have called for congressional investigations into the Nvidia boss.

That bipartisan call matters. When both parties demand probes of a CEO who advises the White House on AI exports, the story stops being a boardroom matter and becomes a policy one.

Where does the board stand right now?

The board's position has shifted fast, and the shifts tell the story.

On Sunday, it backed Huang to remain as chief executive. On Tuesday, it said it had hired a former federal prosecutor to lead an investigation into the matter. On Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter, it will hold urgent talks about his future.

That sequence — public backing, then an independent probe led by a former federal prosecutor, then urgent succession talks reported within days — signals a board managing a crisis that keeps producing new facts. The Wall Street Journal reported the board could oust Huang. No decision has been announced.

A timeline of the week's developments:

• Sunday: Huang admits to having an affair; the board backs him to remain as chief executive.
• Monday: Trump says the FBI is looking into the situation.
• Tuesday: The board says it has hired a former federal prosecutor to lead its investigation.
• Wednesday: The board is set to hold urgent talks about Huang's future, per people familiar with the matter.

Before any of this, the Financial Times had reported Huang was romantically involved with Alice Huang, an executive at an Nvidia customer — the report that preceded his Sunday admission by two days.

Why this matters for the AI industry

Nvidia sits at the center of the AI hardware market, and Huang has been its public face since he founded the company. He is also now a voice in the president's circle on US AI policy and export controls, which makes his personal and legal position a variable in how American technology policy toward China gets shaped.

An 8 percent after-hours move on leadership news shows how concentrated the market's exposure to Nvidia — and to Huang personally — has become. Congressional investigations, if they proceed, would put the company's governance and its policy influence under simultaneous scrutiny.

The board's Wednesday meeting could decide whether Nvidia enters its next chapter with or without the founder who built it. Either way, the probe led by the former federal prosecutor, the FBI's involvement, and the calls from senior Republicans and Democrats for congressional investigations ensure this story will keep developing.