Louis Juricic
3 min read
Investing.com — Nvidia shares fell about 3% in after-hours trading Wednesday evening after a new report alleged that chief executive Jensen Huang maintained an extramarital relationship with Kimberly Powell, the company’s vice president of healthcare—a senior executive who reports to him.
The decline adds to weeks of pressure on the AI chip giant, whose stock has already been battered by revelations surrounding Huang’s previously acknowledged relationship with Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman identified by U.S. intelligence as a suspected spy. Nvidia’s board has launched an independent investigation into that matter, and Huang issued a company-wide apology admitting he had been “unfaithful to my wife.”
According to the circulating report, five people who worked at Nvidia described the relationship with Powell. The account claims Huang, 63, and Powell, 48—both married to other people—were seen being affectionate at a San Jose hotel during Nvidia’s GTC conference in March. A bystander reportedly filmed the interaction; company security is said to have sequestered the person and offered a nondisclosure agreement. The report notes that the video has not been independently viewed by the outlet.
Powell joined Nvidia in 2008 and has risen through the ranks to oversee the company’s healthcare and life-sciences strategy, including AI applications in medical imaging, drug discovery, and related platforms. Nvidia’s code of conduct instructs employees to avoid situations that create conflicts of interest, explicitly including personal relationships, and states that the company investigates reports of misconduct. Many large corporations maintain policies restricting or prohibiting romantic relationships between managers and subordinates precisely to avoid such conflicts.
Huang did not respond substantively when reached for comment on the Powell allegations, according to the report; he is said to have ended the call after stating, “I don’t think you should be talking to me directly.” Nvidia declined to comment, and Powell did not immediately respond to inquiries.
