Jensen Huang did not just keep his reported affairs from NVIDIA’s top executives. The former chief executive also helped shape the company’s response when questions emerged about his relationship with Alice Huang, a Chinese business executive suspected by US authorities of having links to Chinese intelligence.
Three people familiar with the matter told The New York Post that Huang personally helped craft and approve NVIDIA’s earlier denials about the relationship.
The disclosures point to an unusual management structure that allowed Huang to maintain control over how information about his personal relationships reached the company’s leadership. One insider described the arrangement as Jensen by design.
Huang had also told senior executives, including NVIDIA’s general counsel Tim Teter and Chief Marketing Officer Alison Wagonfeld, that his interactions with Alice Huang were routine business dealings with a customer, according to internal correspondence reviewed by Reuters.
In separate messages sent to company leaders in October, Huang told executives, including Teter and Wagonfeld, that his interactions with the Chinese businesswoman and other affairs were part of normal business engagements. Reuters said it was the first to report on the internal correspondence, which it reviewed on condition that the messages not be quoted verbatim.
An opaque management structure, described by one insider as “Jensen by design”, reportedly helped keep the relationships hidden.
Teter did not respond to a request for comment, while Wagonfeld did not immediately reply. Representatives for Huang and NVIDIA declined to comment. A phone call and email to contact details listed on Alice Huang’s business card also went unanswered.
The revelations come after Huang resigned as NVIDIA’s president and CEO and stepped down from the company’s board on Thursday, following reports about multiple extramarital relationships. In a statement on Sunday, Huang apologised for being unfaithful to his wife and disappointing the company. He did not specifically name Alice Huang.
Alice Huang is a former senior executive at Megaspeed International, a company that was an NVIDIA customer. The two share the same surname but are not related.
HUANG HAD EARLIER DESCRIBED INTERACTIONS AS ROUTINE BUSINESS
According to the people familiar with the matter, questions about Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang and his interactions with Megaspeed had reached NVIDIA’s leadership as early as autumn 2025.
Huang had described the interactions as appropriate business engagements at the time, the people said. The issue resurfaced in October 2026 when press queries again drew the attention of some company leaders to his relationship with the Chinese businesswoman.
In separate communications that month, Huang told senior executives, including Teter and Wagonfeld, that his interactions with Alice Huang reflected standard business dealings with customers. He also discussed the possibility of taking legal action against The New York Times after the newspaper published a report in October 2025 drawing attention to his public meetings with her.
The earlier report had prompted Huang to communicate with some NVIDIA leaders about his interactions with Alice Huang. He did not describe the relationship as an affair in those communications, the people familiar with the matter said.
Reuters said it reviewed messages from the October 2026 exchanges but did not independently examine the correspondence from 2025.
Neither Huang nor NVIDIA ultimately filed a lawsuit against The New York Times. A spokesperson for the newspaper said it had received no legal demand.
It remains unclear when Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang became intimate. Photographs posted online and verified by Reuters show the two together in the United States, China and elsewhere, dating back to December 2023.
US AUTHORITIES’ SCRUTINY OF ALICE HUANG
Alice Huang’s relationship with the former NVIDIA chief has come under scrutiny amid suspicions among US authorities that she may have been involved in spying for China. She previously held a senior position at Megaspeed International, an NVIDIA customer.
On November 10, NVIDIA’s independent board members said they had hired Wall Street law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct an independent investigation. The move followed reports by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal about Huang’s relationships and US authorities’ suspicions concerning Alice Huang.
China has denied that Alice Huang is a spy. Reuters said it had not independently verified whether she was working on behalf of the Chinese government.
In an interview with Bloomberg published on October 29, Huang said the US government had not informed him about its suspicions concerning Alice Huang.
The reports about Alice Huang followed earlier disclosures concerning Huang’s relationships with two NVIDIA employees. The New York Times had reported that he had an extramarital relationship with an NVIDIA employee, while Reuters subsequently reported another intimate relationship involving a different employee.
NVIDIA SHARES LOSE OVER $1.8 TRILLION IN MARKET VALUE
Huang’s resignation marks a dramatic turn for the technology executive who helped transform NVIDIA into one of the world’s most influential chipmakers during the artificial intelligence boom.
The controversy has also coincided with a sharp fall in the company’s market value. NVIDIA shares have dropped more than 30 per cent from their October 6 closing high, wiping out more than $1.8 trillion in market capitalisation.
The company is now facing an independent investigation into the matters surrounding Huang’s relationships, while the reports have raised questions about the disclosures made to its senior leadership.
– Ends
With Reuters inputs
Source: www.indiatoday.in
