Jensen Huang told me his secret was ‘don’t get fired’. Now he might be

Detailed summary

In January, Nvidia’s powerful boss told me he’d stay “for as long as I deserve this”. Headlines over two affairs, one of them with an alleged spy, have made his board think he no longer does.

In January, I sat in a room at CES in Las Vegas while Jensen Huang held court for nearly two hours. He wore a crocodile-pattern Tom Ford leather jacket, spoke without notes and moved easily between China export controls and the future of gaming. He had the energy of a man half his age, and he was deeply impressive.

I had one question, and chose to ask him how much longer he planned to run Nvidia. The secret to lasting 33 years was simple, he told me: “Don’t get fired, and don’t get bored.” He would stay “for as long as I deserve this”, he said. “We are the captain of this industry.”

He has never been in danger of getting bored. But getting fired is another matter. Nvidia’s board is preparing to push him out, The Wall Street Journal reported.

What tipped it over was an alleged second relationship. The New York Times, citing five people who have worked at Nvidia, reported that Huang had an affair with Kimberly Powell, a senior executive who reports to him. Two of those people said the pair were filmed being affectionate at a San Jose hotel in March. Three said Huang’s security team approached the person who filmed it and offered them a non-disclosure agreement.

When the Times called Huang to ask about Powell, he said, “I don’t think you should be talking to me directly,” and hung up. Nvidia declined to comment and Powell did not respond.

It caps a disastrous week for Nvidia. On Monday, Huang told staff he’d had an affair with Alice Huang (no relation), an executive at one of Nvidia’s customers who US intelligence reportedly believes was working for China. China denies it. Nvidia’s board has hired a top law firm to investigate, and it says it has no reason to believe any secrets were compromised.

Nvidia’s shares fell about 8 per cent in trading after the US market closed, as news of the board’s plans broke.

It’s worth remembering how unlikely Huang’s story is. Born in Taiwan in 1963, he was sent to the US at nine and, through a mix-up, ended up at a reform school in rural…

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