In the restless churn of a chip-driven economy, a personal scandal has briefly spilled into the realm of public commerce: a rival billionaire, reacting to online chatter, offered warm words toward Nvidia's chief executive Jensen Huang, whose own internal confession of an affair has set off reports of a second relationship and a possible ouster. The facts so far are thin and mostly borrowed from newspaper reporting, and the coverage itself does not confirm them. What lingers is a familiar human pattern, where private failings and corporate power collide, and where the true measure of the moment
Musk Says Hiring Nvidia's Jensen Huang 'Would Be an Honor' Amid Reported Affair Allegations and Succession Talk
In the restless churn of a chip-driven economy, a personal scandal has briefly spilled into the realm of public commerce: a rival billionaire, reacting to online chatter, offered warm words toward Nvidia's chief executive Jensen Huang, whose own internal confession of an affair has set off reports of a second relationship and a possible ouster. The facts so far are thin and mostly borrowed from newspaper reporting, and the coverage itself does not confirm them. What lingers is a familiar human pattern, where private failings and corporate power collide, and where the true measure of the moment will be whether the company itself chooses to speak.
On X, an account called @zerohedge posted a short plea: "Elon please hire Jensen." Elon Musk replied with four words: "That would be an honor." The exchange, reported by Times Now, arrived as Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang sat at the center of a series of reports about his personal conduct and his position at the company.
According to Times Now, Huang recently admitted to an affair in an internal memo to employees. The outlet names the woman involved and claims, on its own characterization, that she is allegedly a Chinese spy according to US Intelligence. The coverage offers no further evidence for that claim.
Then came a report from The New York Times alleging a second affair, this time with Kimberly Powell, a vice president of healthcare at Nvidia. The Wall Street Journal has separately reported that the company may be preparing to remove Huang as CEO. Times Now relays these reports without independent confirmation, and it is not stated whether Nvidia or Huang has responded.
Musk's support did not start with the hiring reply. After the memo, he answered another X post that described Huang's conduct as "something incredibly dumb" but without bad intent, calling him "one of the great entrepreneurs of the generation," with two words: "I agree."
What is established here is narrow: Musk's replies and Huang's own admission. The second affair and the possible ouster rest on two newspapers' reporting. The thing to watch is whether Nvidia confirms any change in leadership, since nothing in the piece shows that it has happened.
On X, an account called @zerohedge posted a short plea: "Elon please hire Jensen." Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO, answered in four words: "That would be an honor." The exchange, reported by Times Now, landed while Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang is at the center of a run of reports about his personal conduct and his job.
According to the Times Now account, Huang recently admitted to an affair in an internal memo addressed to Nvidia employees. The woman involved is named as Alice Huang, who the outlet says is allegedly a Chinese spy according to US Intelligence. That claim is the outlet's characterization, and the coverage offers no further detail to back it up.
A fresh report from The New York Times has since alleged a second extramarital affair, this one with Kimberly Powell, a 48-year-old vice president of healthcare at Nvidia. Separately, The Wall Street Journal has reported that Nvidia may be preparing to remove its founder and CEO soon. Times Now relays these reports without independent confirmation, and the source does not say whether Nvidia or Huang has responded to the second affair allegation or the leadership report.
Musk's support for Huang did not begin with the hiring reply. After Huang's memo, Musk responded to someone else's post on X that said Huang had done "something incredibly dumb" but had "no bad intention." That post called Huang "one of the great entrepreneurs of the generation" and "irreplaceable for America's AI leadership." Musk replied with two words: "I agree."
Powell's public record is laid out in the Times Now piece. Per Nvidia's official website, she joined the company in 2008 and currently oversees its global healthcare business. That work covers hardware and software platforms involving AI, along with computing and visualization for medical imaging, life sciences, drug discovery and healthcare analytics.
Her LinkedIn profile, as cited, says she began at Nvidia working to establish the company's graphics processing units as accelerator platforms for medical imaging equipment. She became senior director of AI business development in 2016 and was promoted to vice president of healthcare in 2017. Before Nvidia, she was a hardware engineer at DOME Imaging Systems from 1999 to 2003, and then spent more than five years at Planar Systems.
What is established in this coverage is narrow: Musk's public replies, and Huang's own admission in an internal memo. The second affair and the possible ouster rest on reports from two newspapers. The thing to watch is whether Nvidia confirms any change in leadership, since nothing in the piece indicates that has happened.
Notable Quotes
That would be an honor.— Elon Musk, replying on X to a post urging him to hire Jensen Huang
I agree.— Elon Musk, replying to a post calling Huang irreplaceable for America's AI leadership
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