Reuters: Ousted Nvidia CEO Huang dated second employee

Jensen Huang had an intimate relationship with a second Nvidia ↘ 5.80% employee, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The report came out on Thursday, November 12, the same day he resigned as the chipmaker's chief executive. Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ↗ 0.38% did not name the woman and said it could not reach her.reuters.com

The report adds a third relationship to a scandal that had already ended Huang's 33 years running the company he co-founded. Before it, two extramarital affairs had come out. One was with Alice Huang, whom U.S. intelligence suspects of being a Chinese spy. The other was with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of health care, Reuters reported. Nvidia declined to comment. Huang, Powell and a representative for Nvidia's board did not reply to Reuters' requests for comment.reuters.com

A rapid collapse

Huang admitted to an affair in a November 8 statement that did not name Alice Huang, according to Reuters. In a memo to employees, he wrote, "I was unfaithful to my wife," Euronews reported. Alice Huang was a senior executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company that buys Nvidia chips. She is not related to Jensen Huang. China has rejected the spying claims as "purely unsubstantiated," NBC reported.euronews.com+2

The pressure grew on Wednesday, November 11. That day The New York Times ↘ 1.24% reported, citing five people who had worked at Nvidia, that Huang had a relationship with Powell, who reported to him, CNBC said. Bystanders reportedly saw the two being affectionate at a hotel during an Nvidia conference in San Jose in March. Nvidia's board met that night to decide Huang's future, Fortune reported.cnbc.com+1

Leadership and legal fallout

Nvidia announced Huang's resignation on Thursday. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO while the board looks for a permanent successor, AFP reported. Huang will no longer have any ties to the chipmaker, according to Bloomberg reporting carried by Insurance Journal.insurancejournal.com+1

Huang's troubles go beyond the company. He faces an FBI investigation tied to Alice Huang, Variety reported. He has also been called to testify behind closed doors before three House committees, Le Monde reported. Shareholders have filed a class action lawsuit accusing Huang and Nvidia of failing to disclose the relationship to investors, according to AFP.afp.com+2

Investors have reacted sharply. If Wednesday's losses held, Nvidia would have lost about $600 billion in market value since the board announced its investigation, Reuters reported. The new report raises more questions for the board. Nvidia's code of conduct tells employees to avoid conflicts of interest and names "personal relationships" as an example, Variety noted.variety.com+1