Jensen Huang, co‑founder and 63‑year‑old former CEO of Nvidia, resigned on November 12, 2026, after publicly admitting to extramarital affairs. The controversy extends beyond his personal life: U.S. officials believe one of his likely romantic partners, Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed, is a Chinese spy who may have passed information to Beijing. Alice Huang is a Chinese citizen and is not related to Jensen Huang.
The case matters because of the strategic role Nvidia plays in the U.S.‑China technology competition and because Megaspeed — a Singapore‑based AI infrastructure company — reportedly bought $4.8 billion in Nvidia chips over the past two years. U.S. and Singaporean authorities previously investigated Megaspeed on suspicions it illegally transferred chips to China, and The New York Times reported that the Justice Department has taken over the federal investigation.
Reverse‑chronological timeline of key events
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November 12, 2026: Huang resigns; CFO Collete Kress named interim CEO
- Nvidia confirmed in a SEC filing that the board accepted Jensen Huang’s resignation. Collete Kress, the company’s chief financial officer, will serve as interim CEO while continuing her CFO responsibilities. Nvidia plans a broader search for a permanent successor.
- Harvey C. Jones, managing partner of Square Wave Ventures and former Synopsys CEO, was appointed Nvidia’s first-ever chair of the board; Jones has served on the board since 1993.
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November 11, 2026: Stock drop as board reportedly prepares to oust Huang
- The Wall Street Journal reported the board planned to meet to discuss Huang’s future after reports of a second extramarital affair. Nvidia shares fell about 8% in after‑hours trading and were down roughly 11% over the prior five days.
- Huang has said he delegates little and has about 60 direct reports; the company had no obvious public succession plan.
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November 11, 2026: New York Times reports affair with an Nvidia executive
- The New York Times, citing five current Nvidia employees, reported that Jensen Huang had an affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of health care, who reports directly to him. Nvidia, Jensen Huang and Kimberly Powell have not confirmed the report. The Times reported that when approached, Huang said, “I don’t think you should be talking to me directly,” and then hung up.
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November 11, 2026: Congress signals potential subpoena
- Three Republican committee chairmen — John Moolenaar (House Select Committee on China), Brian Mast (House Foreign Affairs Committee) and Rick Crawford (House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence) — requested a closed‑door joint briefing with Huang to question him about his alleged affair with a suspected Chinese spy. Moolenaar warned on Fox Business that if Huang does not agree to the briefing, he will likely be subpoenaed.
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November 9, 2026: Huang cancels speaking engagements
- Huang withdrew from scheduled appearances at the ElevenLabs Summit and the Anthropic CEO Forum.
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November 9–10, 2026: Business ties between Nvidia and the alleged spy detailed
- Reports describe how Alice Huang and her family allegedly built a network of companies in China and Singapore to acquire Nvidia chips, including founding Shanghai Century Litong in 2023. The firm became an Nvidia‑preferred cloud partner with priority chip access. The Information reported Shanghai Century Litong facilitated purchasing $7.5 billion worth of Nvidia chips, including banned chips.
- Bloomberg reported Nvidia’s head lawyer, Tim Teter, intervened in a 2025 U.S. government probe into suspected AI chip smuggling by Megaspeed, contacting Commerce Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler with questions about whether the Trump administration had a role in detaining Alice Huang.
- The Financial Times reported that in early 2025 Alice Huang and a business partner sought China‑based investors for an Asian data center, assuring investors they could secure GPUs.
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November 8, 2026: President Trump voices support
- President Donald Trump said he had not spoken to Huang about the matter but called him “a fine person” and expressed that Huang could remain Nvidia’s chief.
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November 8, 2026: Huang admits infidelity; board launches independent investigation
- In a letter to employees published as a press release, Jensen Huang said he had been unfaithful to his wife, apologized to his family and staff, and acknowledged the national security concerns raised in news reports. Nvidia’s board of directors initiated an independent investigation; Huang stated he supports and will fully cooperate with the inquiry.
- Nvidia shares fell more than 5% the following day.
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November 5, 2026: Republican chairmen request closed briefing
- The three Republican chairmen wrote to Huang that recent reports raise significant national security concerns regarding China’s access to sensitive U.S. technology and asked him to appear at a closed, joint briefing with their committees.
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October 29, 2026: New York Times reveals close relationship with suspected spy
- The New York Times disclosed that U.S. officials had been investigating Alice Huang and Megaspeed for more than a year and that Alice Huang had developed a close relationship with Jensen Huang. Nvidia’s spokesperson John Rizzo said Huang’s interactions with Ms. Huang were not unusual, framing customer meetings as normal CEO activity.
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Spring 2026: Secret memo circulated in the Trump administration
- U.S. officials circulated a secret memo warning that Alice Huang, who had a relationship with Jensen Huang, was a spy for China’s Ministry of State Security. The memo was drafted under the supervision of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and later reported by the New York Times.
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Late 2025: Trump briefed on surveillance but took no action
- According to the New York Times, President Trump was briefed in late 2025 about intelligence suggesting Alice Huang might be a spy and had a close relationship with Jensen Huang; no action was taken. Jensen Huang, an ally of Trump, had advocated for allowing Nvidia to expand business in China.
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October 2025: U.S. and Singapore investigate Megaspeed over export concerns
- Megaspeed was confirmed under investigation by both U.S. and Singaporean authorities in October 2025 on suspicions it helped Chinese firms evade U.S. chip export controls. Reporting said Megaspeed had rented compute to Chinese companies including Alibaba and that U.S. Commerce officials had found boxes of Nvidia equipment at a Megaspeed site in 2024, raising concerns equipment was being shipped elsewhere rather than installed as a cloud service.
- Jensen Huang had been seen socializing with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang as early as 2024 in Taiwan, his birthplace. Nvidia at the time said it had no reason to believe products had been diverted and that it had visited multiple Megaspeed sites to confirm operations.
Ongoing implications
Multiple investigations and inquiries are now active: an independent board investigation at Nvidia, a federal probe of Megaspeed and its chip transactions led by the Justice Department, and potential congressional proceedings. Short‑term market reactions have already affected Nvidia’s stock price and prompted leadership changes with Collete Kress serving as interim CEO. Further developments from the independent investigation, federal inquiries, and any congressional action will be decisive for Nvidia’s governance and its role in the broader U.S.‑China technology competition.
