Jensen Huang accused of misleading Nvidia executives over affair before it became public

(San Francisco, agencies) Former Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang misled senior executives about his relationship with Huang Le before their extramarital affair became public, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter and internal Nvidia documents.

People familiar with the matter said media enquiries in autumn 2025 and October 2026 prompted senior Nvidia executives to raise concerns about Huang’s relationship with client company Megaspeed and its executive Huang Le. On both occasions, Huang said there was nothing improper about his interactions with them.

In October this year, Huang twice sent messages to senior executives, including general counsel Tim Teter and chief marketing officer Alison Wagonfeld, saying his interactions with Huang Le were normal business dealings. In other messages, he also described his interactions with Megaspeed as routine.

A New York Times report in October last year drew attention to public meetings between Huang and Huang Le, prompting him to discuss their interactions with senior executives. At the time, however, he did not describe those interactions as an “extramarital affair”. He also explored taking legal action against The New York Times, but neither he nor Nvidia ultimately filed a lawsuit.

It remains unclear when the affair began. Photographs posted online show the pair attending the same events in the US, China and elsewhere as far back as December 2023.

Huang resigned as Nvidia’s chief executive on Thursday (12 November) amid the affair scandal. The Financial Times reported on Friday (13 November) that Nvidia’s board, which is searching for a new leader, had approached Rene Haas, chief executive of UK chip designer Arm.

However, Haas is only one of the candidates under consideration. It remains uncertain whether he will receive a formal offer or would be willing to accept it.

Nvidia’s board said in a statement that speculation about any individual internal or external candidate was premature at this stage.

Huang is widely regarded as one of the main drivers of the global artificial intelligence (AI) boom. Before his resignation, an Nvidia engineer urged the board in an internal post to consider employees’ wishes before taking action. The post drew more than 1,600 comments, with some calling on the board to find a way to reinstate Huang.

Billionaire Elon Musk also posted on social media platform X that a petition calling for Huang’s reinstatement was under way and that he would sign it.