Lori Huang in spotlight as Jensen Huang quits Nvidia

Lori Huang has spent four decades out of public view. Now her husband's scandal has made her one of the most closely watched people connected to Nvidia ↘ 4.34%. Jensen Huang resigned as the chipmaker's CEO on Thursday, November 12, effective immediately. CFO Colette Kress took over as interim CEO. Coverage has since turned to his wife's control over the family's wealth and to what a divorce could mean, although neither of them has said one is coming.apnews.com

The New York Times ↘ 1.71% noted that Lori Huang "stands out among tech titan spouses for how private she has been." That changed when her husband admitted to an affair with a woman U.S. officials identified as a Chinese spy.nytimes.com

Control of the foundation and trusts

Lori Huang is president of the Jen-Hsun & Lori Huang Foundation, which reported about $9.2 billion in assets at the end of 2024. She has held that title in every filing available since 2014, while Jensen Huang is listed as secretary and CFO. Fortune reviewed Nvidia's proxy statement and found that, as of March, the couple were co-trustees of three family trusts holding nearly 669 million Nvidia shares. That is most of the 870.6 million shares listed as beneficially owned by Jensen Huang.fortune.com

The couple met as lab partners at Oregon State University and married in 1985, eight years before Nvidia was founded. The Wall Street Journal News Corp ↘ 2.54% reported that Jensen Huang once joked to colleagues that his wife handled their paperwork and finances. Forbes said this suggests many of the couple's assets are held jointly.forbesmiddleeast.com+1

Community property math

Under California's community property rules, assets acquired during a marriage are generally split equally unless an agreement says otherwise. Forbes estimated Lori Huang could receive at least $70 billion. It cautioned that it is unknown whether the couple signed a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. Forbes valued Jensen Huang's fortune at $141.7 billion on Thursday morning. Some outlets have called a possible settlement the "largest divorce settlement of all time". For comparison, MacKenzie Scott received Amazon Amazon.com, Inc. ↗ 0.48% stock worth about $36 billion when she divorced Jeff Bezos.newser.com+1

A second relationship

On Wednesday, November 11, the Times cited five people who worked at Nvidia in reporting that Jensen Huang also had a relationship with Kimberly Powell, the company's vice president of health care, who reports to him. Two of those people said the pair were filmed being affectionate at a San Jose hotel during a company conference in March. Reuters later reported a relationship with a second employee.nytimes.com+2

In his November 8 memo to employees, Jensen Huang wrote, "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children." Lori Huang has not commented publicly.fortune.com