Nvidia shares fall as CEO admits affair with alleged Chinese spy
Nvidia shares dropped over 5 per cent after CEO Jensen Huang admitted to an affair with a woman suspected of spying for China.
Nvidia shares fell by 5.75 per cent in out-of-hours trading on Monday following reports that CEO Jensen Huang had an affair with a Chinese businesswoman suspected of being a spy. According to reports from India Today and Bhaskar English, US intelligence agencies believe the woman, identified as Alice Huang, was working for China's Ministry of State Security and used her closeness to Huang to pass information to China.
The New York Times reported that Huang admitted to the affair before the company's board on Sunday. Huang apologised to his wife and children, stating that he had betrayed his family and expressed regret for his actions. He also sent messages to employees acknowledging the situation.
Nvidia's board announced on 8 November that it has launched an independent investigation into the matter. While the board stated there is currently no evidence that US national security or company trade secrets were compromised, an external lawyer will be appointed to investigate. Huang will remain CEO and cooperate with the probe.
Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, has been a senior executive at the Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed, which is a major Nvidia customer. US officials have been monitoring her for over a year. The US Department of Commerce has also been investigating whether Megaspeed helped deliver restricted AI chips to China.
Following the news, Nvidia shares fell from a Friday closing price of $186.64 on the Nasdaq. Despite the market uncertainty, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and investor Bill Ackman expressed support for Huang on X, noting that he has taken responsibility for his mistakes.
