Nvidia said on Sunday that its board was launching an investigation into whether Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort, following a New York Times report about his alleged close relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at data center firm Megaspeed who is not related to him.

Also on Sunday, Huang, 63, said in a memo to employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife and accepted "full responsibility" for his actions.

Who is Alice Huang?

A profile on a Chinese fund database for the alleged mistress, Alice Huang, listed her previous positions at HSBC and as a reporter for Chinese media outlets CCTV and Hunan TV, AFP reported, but noted that it could not verify the contents of the profile.

The Chinese national, also known as Huang Le, had reportedly been a top executive at Megaspeed, which has been developing data centers across Southeast Asia and renting their computing capacity to Alibaba, the major Chinese internet company.

The New York Times reported that she speaks English well and has extensive connections among senior figures in the global AI chip industry.

Alice Huang (R), a Chinese executive linked to the data center company called Megaspeed, attends a dinner hosted by Nvidia's chief executive and co-founder Jensen Huang (L in black back facing camera) at a restaurant in Taipei on May 22, 2025, during tech expo Computex. Photo via AFP

It is unclear when Alice and Jensen Huang first met, although they were photographed together at a bar in Taipei in 2024.

Jensen Huang had told Bloomberg that his relationship and interactions with Alice Huang were related to Megaspeed and were "completely normal and not unusual."

What the situation could mean for Nvidia

Nvidia said its board had no reason to believe that U.S. national security or company secrets had been compromised, but that its investigation would review all available information.

Dan Ives, partner and senior managing director at merchant bank Yorkville Ives & Co., expects the situation to lead to multiple congressional inquiries and weigh on the firm’s stock.

"There is clearly risk that Jensen could be removed as CEO depending on the Board investigation and this will add risk to the stock," Ives said, as quoted by Reuters.

Gary Black, managing partner at investment advisor Future Fund LLC, said he doubts Huang will remain as Nvidia CEO.

"While Huang has not committed any crime or tort, his code of conduct and judgment will be called into question, which will likely result in his removal," Black said.

Nvidia has no publicly announced succession plan, nor is there an obvious candidate to replace Huang as he has built an informal management structure centered on himself.

Huang has said that the setup allows Nvidia to respond quickly to technological shifts and stay agile. However, it also leaves the company without a clear successor ready to take over his demanding role.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang listens as President Donald Trump speaks during an event at the U.S. Institute of Peace, Oct. 8, 2026, in Washington. Photo by AP

Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said in a note cited by Bloomberg that the latest developments "highlight the considerable key man risk that Nvidia faces."

"Nvidia is not an ordinary company and Jensen is not an ordinary CEO; he IS Nvidia, clearly sets the long term strategy and direction, and (with supposedly 60 direct reports) pulls most of the company’s strings himself," Rasgon said.

Nonetheless, a spokesperson told Forbes that the news "will not slow Nvidia," and that "Jensen is committed to continuing to lead Nvidia as CEO without interruption."

Huang himself has also reiterated his commitment to the company, saying he was "fully committed to Nvidia" and would work to regain confidence.

Jensen Huang’s career

Jensen Huang co-founded Nvidia with two fellow electrical engineers in 1993 when he "had no idea how" to start a business, he previously told CNBC.

The company initially developed graphics-processing chips, particularly for the video game industry, and almost went under after its experimental chips proved "technically poor," putting a crucial contract with gaming company Sega at risk.

Huang persuaded Sega to buy out the contract and used the proceeds to finance the development of an entirely new line of chips, which became Nvidia’s first successful product in 1997.

Nvidia later shifted its focus to artificial intelligence, a market it now dominates. It became the first company to ever reach a $5 trillion market valuation in October 2025, though its shares have recently declined.

It is now the world’s second-most-valuable company, with a market capitalization of about $4.5 trillion, behind Apple at roughly $5 trillion.

Huang owns a stake in Nvidia that makes him the world’s eighth-richest person with an estimated net worth of $162.2 billion.

Four-decade marriage

Huang married Lori Mills in 1985, and they have two children, Spencer and Madison.

Huang met his wife while studying engineering at Oregon State University, when he was 17 and she was 19. They had paired for a lab assignment when Huang asked her if she wanted to look at his homework.

"If you do homework with me every Sunday, I promise you, you will get straight As," Huang recounted in a 2024 interview cited by the South China Morning Post, adding that they went on to have a date every Sunday.

Jensen Huang and his wife Lori. Photo by Oregon State University

Both of their children work at Nvidia, with Madison serving as senior director of product marketing for physical AI and robotics while Spencer is a director in robotics product management, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Spencer received total compensation of $1.3 million in fiscal 2026, compared with $1.2 million for Madison.

Huang has credited his wife and daughter for his signature black leather jacket look.

"Throughout my life, my family has given me love and support. They deserve my honesty and loyalty. Instead, I let them down and damaged the life we built together," Huang said in Sunday’s memo to employees. "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry."

Stephen Witt, author of The Thinking Machine, a biography of Huang, told BBC that Huang "has gone to great lengths to present himself as a family man," often praising his wife.

"The fallout of this would be bad for anyone's family. But for someone who has gone to such great lengths to cultivate an image of being a family guy and who keeps his children very close, it is very bad," Witt said.