Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is embroiled in controversy over two alleged affairs. The company's board is considering a leadership change amid claims of ties to Alice Huang and Kimberly Powell. Names of 8 possible successors including Jai Puri are in discussion. Know what impact the entire controversy had on Nvidia's shares, Jensen's chair and personal life.
Nvidia CEO Controversy: Jensen Huang, CEO and co-founder of the world's leading chip manufacturer Nvidia, is in controversy these days over the news of two alleged affairs. First the news of his relationship with Chinese national Alice Huang came to light. after this new York Times The report also claimed his alleged relationship with senior company executive Kimberly Powell.
This controversy has now raised questions on the top leadership of the company. According to reports from Reuters and Bloomberg, Nvidia's board is considering Jensen's future and is also seeking the help of outside advisers to identify potential successors. This entire incident has also affected the shares of the company.
Also claims relationship with Kimberly Powell
new York Times According to reports, Jensen Huang had an alleged affair with Nvidia's Vice President Kimberly Powell. This claim has been made in the report quoting five former and current employees of the company. Powell reported directly to Jensen Huang.
Kimberly Powell started working at Nvidia as a director in 2008. Over time, she took on many important responsibilities in the company and is currently the Vice President of the Healthcare Business. His work has been to promote the use of Nvidia's AI technology in the field of medical imaging and healthcare.
Before joining Nvidia, Powell had worked as an engineer. Later he took up the responsibility of product development in an electronics startup. However, there has been no public confirmation from Powell on her alleged relationship with Jensen. Therefore this claim should be seen as a media report only.
Alice Huang suspected of being a Chinese spy, board starts investigation
Jensen Huang's name was also previously linked to Alice Huang. American intelligence agencies suspect that Ellis was spying for China and trying to collect sensitive information related to Nvidia. However, the allegation of him being a spy has not been proven yet.
According to reports, Ellis is a citizen of China and has worked in a senior position in Singapore's data center company Megaspeed. This company is said to be one of the big customers of Nvidia. American agencies fear that information related to Nvidia could have been sent to China through Alice. In this case, news of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio giving intelligence to President Donald Trump before his visit to China in May 2026 also came to light. According to CNN's report, Trump was told that Jensen was involved with a woman who was suspected of working for a Chinese intelligence agency. However, the White House has rejected this report.
As the controversy escalated, Nvidia's board announced the launch of an independent investigation on November 8. The board said the investigation will find out whether the company's technology or sensitive information related to national security was affected. The company also said that at this time it has no reason to believe that Nvidia's secrets or information related to national security has been compromised.
Crisis on CEO post, eight names in discussion for successor
There have been reports of a crisis in Jensen Huang's chair after two alleged affairs and a controversy related to espionage. wall street journal According to the report, Nvidia's board is preparing to remove him from the post of CEO. Reuters also quoted a source as saying that the board is considering this.
The company is working with outside advisers to identify potential successors, Bloomberg reports. Meanwhile, names of many senior officers and former officers of the company are being discussed as possible contenders.
The main names among these are-
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Jai Puri: Senior executive of Indian origin, who has been associated with Nvidia's global sales and partnership business for a long time. After retirement in July 2026, he is in the role of advisor.
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Colette Cress: She is the Chief Financial Officer of the company and has been handling the financial affairs of Nvidia for a long time.
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Ian Buck: Senior executive involved in hyperscale and high-performance computing. He has played an important role in the development of the company's CUDA platform.
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Chris Malachowski: One of the co-founders of Nvidia and currently an Nvidia Fellow at the company.
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Bill Daly: He is the Chief Scientist and senior research officer of the company.
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Nick Parker: Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations.
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Deborah Shoquist: Handles the responsibility of work related to manufacturing and supply chain.
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Brian Catanzaro: Vice President of Applied Deep Learning Research and part of the company's AI research team.
These names have been discussed in media reports as possible options. However, Nvidia has not officially announced any of them as the next CEO. The Reuters report specifically cited Colette Cress and Ian Buck as strong choices for potential interim leadership.
Jensen sent message to employees, shares also fell
Amid the controversy, Jensen Huang sent a message to Nvidia employees on November 8 and apologized to his wife and family. He admitted that he had not been faithful to his wife. In his message he said that his decision has hurt his wife and children and he has no excuse for it. Jensen also said that he takes the company and US national security concerns seriously and will fully cooperate with the board's independent investigation. The effect of this entire controversy was visible in the stock market also. According to Reuters, after the news of the controversy related to Jensen came out, there was a sharp decline in Nvidia's shares. Shares fell more than 8% in after-hours trading on November 11 following news of the possible removal of the CEO.
Reports have estimated the company's market value to have declined by more than $300 billion since the controversy began. In Indian currency it is approximately Rs 27 lakh crore. However, it would not be right to link this decline only to the news of another alleged affair. Investor concerns also include uncertainty over the company's leadership, investigations and future business.
Divorce speculations rampant, but wife Lori did not give any statement
Jensen Huang and his wife Lori were married in 1985. Both have two children. After the news of Jensen's affair and his apology message, there is speculation on social media and some reports about their divorce. Some claims are that Lori could get a large portion of Jensen's property in the event of a divorce.
The reason for this is being said to be California's community property law, under which husband and wife can have joint rights on property acquired during marriage. However, no official announcement has been made from Jensen or Lori regarding the divorce. Therefore, a possible divorce settlement of $80 billion or any fixed amount that Lori will receive cannot be considered a firm fact.
The biggest question at the moment is whether Nvidia's board will retain Jensen Huang as CEO or there will be a leadership change in the company. The investigation of the company, the decision of the board and the quarterly results coming on November 17 are going to be important for investors.