By Max A. Cherney, Krystal Hu, Alexandra Alper and Deepa Seetharaman
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 12 (Reuters) – Ousted Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had an intimate relationship with a second employee, according to two people familiar with the matter, Reuters has learned.
The revelation follows two other extramarital affairs that led to his resignation Thursday. The two women are Alice Huang, who US intelligence suspects of being a Chinese spy, and Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of health care.
Reuters is not naming the second employee. Attempts to reach the woman were not successful.
Nvidia declined to comment. Powell, Jensen Huang, and a representative for Nvidia’s board did not reply to requests for comment. Alice Huang could not be reached for comment.
Jensen Huang admitted to an affair in a November 8 statement following the reports of his relationship with Alice Huang, without referring to her by name.
The former Nvidia CEO’s decision to resign from the company could disrupt the AI industry that he helped shape. Nvidia has used its financial strength to help create an industry around AI through complex financial arrangements that ease the purchase of the company’s chips. It has backed cloud computing companies and AI labs in order to do so.
Pressure on Jensen Huang, who is 63 and married, to resign mounted after reports of his affair with Alice Huang.
Nvidia’s board appointed finance chief Colette Kress as interim CEO while it conducts a search to replace Jensen Huang. The board is considering internal and external candidates for the job.
Earlier this month, Nvidia’s board launched a probe, led by independent directors with outside legal counsel, into whether Jensen Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. It also expressed confidence in him at the time.
Shares fell 5.5% on Thursday in active trading. The stock has shed more than 30% of its value since its early October peak.
(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman in San Francisco; editing by Kenneth Li and David Gaffen)
Comments