A Second Relationship, Reported by a Second Outlet
Jensen Huang had an intimate relationship with a second Nvidia employee, according to two sources cited by Reuters. The report, published Thursday, lands on the same day Huang's resignation as president, CEO and board member took effect, and it deepens the governance crisis that forced him out.
Reuters' account follows the New York Times reporting on Wednesday that named Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare and one of Huang's direct reports, as the executive involved in the second relationship. Both Powell and Huang are married. Nvidia's board opened an independent investigation on November 8 that examined Huang's personal conduct alongside reports that he had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort.
The Pattern Is the Story
Individually, each relationship is a personnel matter. Together, they describe the case the board was weighing. The first relationship, with Singapore executive Alice Huang, sits at the center of a Justice Department investigation into Nvidia chip diversion to China, with US officials suspecting her of working for Chinese intelligence. The second, with a direct report inside his own company, is the classic governance failure boards exist to catch: a chief executive in an undisclosed personal relationship with a subordinate.
That combination, national security exposure plus an internal reporting-line violation, is what turned a scandal the board initially met with public confidence in Huang into a resignation within four days. The board has said it has no reason to believe the conduct compromised company secrets or national security, a formulation that leaves most of the important questions unanswered.
Options and Market Impact
Reuters' report does not change Nvidia's fundamentals, but it changes the odds that the story is finished. Each new account of the board's investigation raises the probability of further disclosure, in regulatory filings, in the Senate Banking hearing that has now called Huang to testify, or in the shareholder class action already on file.
For Nvidia options, that means the headline premium does not decay on schedule. The stock closed Thursday down 4.34% at $166.19 after a 14% intraday plunge, and the path into Tuesday's earnings under interim CEO Colette Kress runs straight through more potential revelations.
Bottom Line
The resignation was supposed to close the Huang chapter. Reuters' reporting suggests the disclosures are still arriving. With a Senate hearing ahead and an unfinished board investigation behind him, the question for Nvidia is no longer who leads it. It is how much more there is to know.
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