Alice Huang, the former Megaspeed executive whose affair with former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang he acknowledged. Huang has since been linked to two additional women. [AP]
Alice Huang, the former Megaspeed executive whose affair with former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang he acknowledged. Huang has since been linked to two additional women. [AP]

Former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang now faces allegations of an affair with yet another employee at the company — beyond the two already known: Alice Huang, a former executive at Megaspeed, and Kimberly Powell, vice president of Nvidia Healthcare, who was his direct subordinate.

Reuters reported Thursday (local time), citing multiple sources, that Huang had an extramarital relationship with an additional Nvidia employee. Reuters said it did not identify the employee by name and was unable to reach the employee for comment.

Huang founded Nvidia in 1993 and built it into the world's leading AI chipmaker, a rise that made him one of the most consequential figures in the technology industry. His influence extended to political heavyweights, including US President Donald Trump, and inside the company he was celebrated as a rockstar CEO. He also cultivated a warm public image — in his home country of Taiwan, crowds would gather wherever he appeared.

Kimberly Powell, vice president of Nvidia Healthcare, who has been named in allegations of an affair with former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. [SNS]
Kimberly Powell, vice president of Nvidia Healthcare, who has been named in allegations of an affair with former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. [SNS]

The mounting affair scandal, and Huang's own acknowledgment of extramarital conduct, ultimately cost him his job. He stepped down as CEO after the board signaled it was moving toward dismissal.

The board had initially announced an independent investigation into Huang last weekend, but abruptly shifted to discussing his removal after the allegations surrounding Alice Huang expanded beyond the affair itself to include suspicions of smuggling chips to China — and a second affair scandal, involving Powell, came to light. Most US companies prohibit romantic relationships between supervisors and subordinates due to conflict-of-interest concerns. Powell is also married.

When the first affair scandal broke Sunday, Huang issued an apology, saying, "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions have hurt my wife and children, and there is no excuse for what I did." He did not name the other person involved.


kate01@heraldcorp.com