KoGuan, who has invested around $1.3 billion in Nvidia, said in a text message quoted by Bloomberg on Friday: “No further investment without Jensen.”
The remarks followed Huang’s departure as the chipmaker’s CEO after reports surfaced of three alleged affairs, one of which involved Alice Huang, a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy. Beijing has denied the espionage claims.
The scandal brought an end to Huang’s decades-long leadership of a company that has underpinned the global artificial intelligence boom.
KoGuan also took to X to defend Huang in a series of posts, describing the former Nvidia CEO as “the supreme creator” who created the super-intelligence industry and chips.
He argued that while Huang had made mistakes, “we must celebrate humans being human with flaws.”
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Leo KoGuan, founder and chairman of SHI International. Photo from the company’s website |
“We must prioritize rewards (rather) than punishments,” he wrote. He also called Huang “a good guy” and an “indisputable (super-intelligence) leader not only in America but also the world.
KoGuan, born in Indonesia, started investing in Nvidia in March, when he said he had purchased 1 million shares in the firm that would have been worth $180.05 million at the time, Forbes reported.
He had previously made headlines as one of Tesla’s biggest individual shareholders, though he said in 2024 that he had begun scaling back his investment in the electric-car manufacturer.
KoGuan also founded IT solutions provider SHI International and serves as its chairman. His ex-wife Thai Lee, also a billionaire, is the firm’s CEO.
Forbes ranked KoGuan as Singapore’s ninth-richest individual in September. His net worth is currently estimated at $8.6 billion.