Nvidia hires leading US law firm to investigate Jensen Huang’s relationship

Detailed summary

Move comes as chipmaker reels from reports its CEO was having an affair with an alleged Chinese spyNvidia has appointed a leading US law firm to conduct a “thorough and…

Move comes as chipmaker reels from reports its CEO was having an affair with an alleged Chinese spy

Nvidia has appointed a leading US law firm to conduct a “thorough and independent” investigation into the relationship between its chief executive, Jensen Huang, and an alleged Chinese spy.

The $4.1tn (£3tn) chipmaker’s board has hired New York-based Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz for the investigation, which will be led by the Wachtell partner Joon Kim. The firm’s website describes Kim, a former government prosecutor in New York, as a specialist in areas including internal investigations, white-collar criminal and regulatory defence, and crisis management.

Nvidia did not give a timeframe for the investigation but the company has said Huang will continue to lead the business he co-founded “without interruption”. A committee of independent board directors, assisted by Kim and Wachtell, will oversee the investigation.

The company is reeling from an espionage scandal after reports that its chief executive had been having an affair with an alleged Chinese spy, Alice Huang, who was also an Nvidia customer.

The US ambassador to China, David Perdue, said: “The situation with Nvidia is another reminder that we have to stay diligent.

“National security is part of this economic conversation because economic security is national security. And so, what we’re doing with China is bumpy right now,” he told Bloomberg Television.

Nvidia had at first denied an improper relationship with the Chinese citizen, who is no relation to the Nvidia boss, but Huang then admitted on Sunday he had been unfaithful to his wife – without referring directly to Ms Huang.

On the same day Nvidia announced an investigation into reports that Huang “has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort”.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Guardian Business. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.