Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang admitted to having an affair with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy, prompting the Nvidia board to launch an investigation. Bloomberg's Minmin Low breaks down the news and shares what Huang previously told Bloomberg about the company's succession plans.
Our top story still remains on Nvidia. So the CEO Jensen Huang has admitted to having an extramarital affair after reports he was targeted by a suspected Chinese spy. President Trump has also weighed in saying he thinks Huang should stay on.
I have not spoken to him about it. I just know he's a fine person, but you never know what is going on. Um, I'm sure, I hope everything's fine, yeah. He's done such an incredible job.
Should he stay on as CEO of Nvidia?
I think so. Oh yeah, sure.
For more on this story, let's bring in our team, our North Asia correspondent, Minmin Lo, also our tech reporter, Neely Parnell, both joins us here right now. Minmin, I'll start with you. Uh, this confession from Huang certainly could be quite a, I guess you could say, embarrassing moment for him given the celebrity that he has been in this whole AI revolution. He is the man and the center of all of it. What what comes next in this whole story now?
Yeah, it certainly changes the image that he has built up, right, around the very loving relationship that he has for his wife. And so, uh there's really a lot of uncertainty now because the company's board has said that they will be setting up an independent committee to investigate this matter. Although they said that for now, they have no reason to suspect that US national security or company secrets have been compromised. They still remain confident in his leadership and his team as well. And for now, the CEO will stay on in the company, uh, as part as the probe is ongoing. But of course, there are a lot of questions because there are currently no apparent successor to Jensen Huang and Huang has been, uh, quite famous for being very hands-on and he created a very flat, uh, hierarchy in his company where his direct reports would often just implement his decisions. So, there's no clear succession and what could happen if actions are to be taken against him. And he traveled with Bloomberg's Emily Chang last month on, for the filming of an upcoming episode of The Circuit. And have a listen to what he said about his succession plan.
Um, and so I think the the pressure of being the CEO is high and it's supposed to be high. It shouldn't be an it should not be an easy job. Uh it shouldn't be a job that you take for granted. When I decided to be CEO, you know, I didn't didn't realize the the the magnitude of the of the pressure and and the responsibilities, but you know, look, that's what I, that's what I signed up for. And so now, now that my family and all of the people that are near me, um, see, see the the the responsibilities of this job and what it takes, uh, then they they just got to ask themselves, you know, whether this is the level of sacrifice and responsibility you want. And I'm really hoping that the next CEO of the company is already at the company. Um, but, but, uh, 20 years from now, I hope I stay healthy and, you know, I hope I I continue to earn my my keep. Um, but so long as I I could do that 20 years from now, I hope, I hope um, uh they're already here and but they have to earn it.
