Nvidia Sheds $1.8 Trillion as Ex-CEO Jensen Huang Misled Counsel Over Affair

The valuation destruction was swift. Nvidia shares have tumbled more than 30% since their October 6 closing high, wiping out an unprecedented $1.8 trillion in market capitalisation. The company's architect is out. Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive on Thursday, November 12, ending a defining era at the helm of the world's most valuable artificial intelligence hardware supplier.

Behind the executive exit lies a trail of internal misdirection. Huang repeatedly misled senior leaders—including Nvidia General Counsel Tim Teter and Chief Marketing Officer Alison Wagonfeld—about the true nature of his extramarital relationship with Chinese businesswoman Alice Huang, according to internal company correspondence and people familiar with executive discussions. When questioned internally during the autumn of 2025 and again in October 2026, Huang characterized their repeated interactions as standard commercial engagements with a client.

Deception on Customer Dealings and Megaspeed Ties

But the relationship went far beyond vendor management. Alice Huang served as a top executive at Megaspeed International, an active Nvidia customer. In two separate internal messages dispatched in October, Huang assured Teter and Wagonfeld that their interactions reflected customary customer relations, affirming that all business conduct with Megaspeed remained strictly routine. Verified photographs told a different story, establishing that the two had been seen together across the United States, China, and international venues as far back as December 2023.

Yet the corporate risks extended well beyond boardroom optics. United States authorities launched an investigation into Alice Huang over suspicions of potentially spying for China, though Beijing has formally denied that she operated as an intelligence asset. Jensen Huang, who shares a common surname with Alice Huang but has no family relation, addressed the matter in an interview on October 29, stating that the federal government had never informed him of any counterintelligence suspicions surrounding her.

Boardroom Action and Independent Inquiry

Huang also weighed legal retaliation against the press after public reporting highlighted his private meetings with Alice Huang. The chief executive discussed launching a lawsuit following an article published in October of last year, prompting internal debriefs with executive lieutenants where he again concealed the affair. Neither Nvidia nor Huang ever filed a complaint, and publishing representatives confirmed that no legal demand was ever received.

Then the board drew the line. Independent directors stepped in on November 10, retaining elite Wall Street law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to head an independent investigation into Huang's personal relationships and the associated counterintelligence scrutiny. Internal inquiries also surfaced separate extramarital relationships between Huang and two Nvidia employees. Huang broke his silence in a public statement on Sunday, issuing an apology for being unfaithful to his wife and disappointing the company, while omitting any direct mention of Alice Huang.

Market Context: The leadership vacuum strikes at the core of the global artificial intelligence infrastructure buildout. Nvidia previously laid plans for massive system rollouts, including potential deployments of at least 10 gigawatts of specialized computing capacity alongside a $100 billion investment partnership with OpenAI. The sudden ouster of its longtime leader exposes critical governance vulnerabilities across institutional portfolios.

Requests for comment directed to Teter and Wagonfeld went unanswered, while representatives for Huang and Nvidia declined to comment. Inquiries sent to the contact details on Alice Huang's business card drew no reply. All eyes on Wall Street now turn to findings from Wachtell Lipton's independent audit and the board's permanent succession plan.