Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has publicly admitted to cheating on his wife of more than 40 years, Lori, issuing an emotional apology after his relationship with a Chinese businesswoman became the subject of an international espionage investigation.
The 63-year-old billionaire, whose company produces the powerful computer chips behind much of the artificial intelligence boom, acknowledged his infidelity in a statement published on Sunday (November 8).
His admission concerned a woman identified in media reports as Alice Huang, a former executive at one of Nvidia’s major customers whom US intelligence officials suspect of gathering information for Beijing.
The scandal has also dealt a fresh blow to Nvidia’s investors, many of which are saving for old age, with the company’s shares plunging today (November 9), following an already devastating week for AI-related stocks.
Jensen Huang admitted being unfaithful to his wife in an emotional public statement
The billionaire’s confession came after weeks of reports concerning his relationship with Alice Huang, a Chinese business executive also known as Huang Le.
On Sunday, Nvidia published a letter from its CEO addressing the revelations and apologizing to his family.
“I owe my family and all of you an apology,” he began.
“I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”
Huang went on to acknowledge the emotional damage he had caused Lori, whom he met as a teenager and married decades before Nvidia became one of the world’s most valuable corporations.
“Throughout my life, my family has given me love and support. They deserve my honesty and loyalty. Instead, I let them down and damaged the life we built together,” he wrote.
“I take full responsibility for what I did and the hurt I caused, and I accept the criticism that comes with it.”
The statement also addressed their two adult children, Madison and Spencer, both of whom work at Nvidia.
“To my wife and family: I love you,” Jensen continued.
“I know an apology cannot undo what I have done. I hope our family will heal and that, over time, I can earn back your trust.”
“Now write her the check,” read one reaction, suggesting that Lori deserved more than an expression of regret.
“He wants to get a divorce and protect some of his assets.”
The couple met as teenagers, and Huang famously promised Lori he would become a CEO
The revelations have renewed interest in a relationship that began long before Huang accumulated his considerable wealth.
Jensen and Lori, née Mills, met while studying electrical engineering at Oregon State University in the early 1980s.
Huang was just 17 years old when he encountered his future wife, who was 19 and happened to be his laboratory partner. Speaking at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2024, the billionaire recalled attempting to impress her with his academic abilities.
“I knew that her first impression of me would be that I’m smart and so I walked up to her and I said, ‘Do you want to see my homework?’” he joked.
He then devised a plan to spend more time with her.
“If you do homework with me every Sunday, I promise you you’ll get straight As,” he recalled telling Lori.
“As a result, I had a date every Sunday.”
Their relationship developed over the following years, with Huang eventually making an unusually ambitious promise.
“By the time I’m 30, I’m going to be a CEO,” he told her.
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Huang graduated from Oregon State in 1984, with Lori following in 1985. They married approximately five years after first meeting.
In 1993, the same year he turned 30, Huang co-founded Nvidia, fulfilling the promise he had made to his college sweetheart.
The couple subsequently raised Madison and Spencer as the company grew from a graphics-chip manufacturer into a driving force behind the global AI industry.
Huang frequently credited Lori with supporting him through the pressures of building a business
During a 2026 appearance on the podcast How I Built This, he acknowledged that his professional commitments had often kept him away from family activities.
“Lori took care of everything and I don’t remember her complaining one time,” he said. “That’s the gift that she gave me.”
Huang has also credited his wife and daughter with developing his recognizable fashion sense, including the leather jackets that have become his signature.
“My wife and my daughter dress me,” he said in 2023.
The couple continued making public appearances together throughout his rise to prominence, including at the Breakthrough Prize ceremony in Santa Monica on April 18, 2026.
Lori is also an electrical engineer and serves as president of the Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Foundation.
According to tax filings compiled by ProPublica, the foundation reported approximately $9.1 billion in net assets in 2024.
The woman linked to Huang’s affair is suspected of working for Chinese intelligence
The woman at the center of the allegations, Alice Huang, previously worked as a television reporter in China before moving into finance.
She later became an executive at Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based company that purchases Nvidia’s advanced chips and provides computing infrastructure to businesses across Asia.
According to The New York Times, US intelligence agencies determined that Alice was passing information to the Chinese government.
The newspaper reported on October 29 that American officials believed she had developed a close relationship with Jensen Huang as part of a possible intelligence-gathering operation.
The allegations grew more serious after subsequent reporting described a classified US intelligence assessment suggesting that China’s Ministry of State Security had recruited her to target the Nvidia executive.
Huang and Alice are not related despite sharing a surname.
Photographs showed the two attending technology-related gatherings together in Taipei in 2024.
In May 2025, cameras also captured them at a restaurant during the Computex technology exhibition in Taiwan.
According to The Wall Street Journal, footage from that occasion showed the pair exchanging kisses on the cheek before leaving in the same vehicle.
Megaspeed, meanwhile, has faced scrutiny over suspicions that it helped Chinese companies acquire restricted American-made AI chips.
According to The New York Times, the company purchased more than $4.8 billion worth of Nvidia chips over approximately two years.
Nvidia’s board has launched an investigation as the scandal reaches Washington
In May 2025, cameras also captured them at a restaurant during the Computex technology exhibition in Taiwan.
According to The Wall Street Journal, footage from that occasion showed the pair exchanging kisses on the cheek before leaving in the same vehicle.
Megaspeed, meanwhile, has faced scrutiny over suspicions that it helped Chinese companies acquire restricted American-made AI chips.
According to The New York Times, the company purchased more than $4.8 billion worth of Nvidia chips over approximately two years.
Nevertheless, the investigation comes at a particularly sensitive moment for a company whose products sit at the center of escalating technological competition between the United States and China.
Nvidia manufactures some of the world’s most powerful processors for training and operating AI systems.
American authorities have restricted exports of its most advanced chips to China, citing concerns that Beijing could use the technology for military and intelligence purposes.
Huang has repeatedly advocated allowing Nvidia to sell more of its products to Chinese customers, arguing that American technology should remain influential in the country’s expanding AI market.
The reported relationship has consequently attracted attention from Washington.
According to The New York Times, President Donald Trump was briefed about the intelligence findings approximately a year ago. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also reportedly oversaw the preparation of a classified memorandum concerning the alleged operation.
Members of Congress have requested that Huang attend a private briefing on November 18 to address national security concerns.
Trump, however, publicly defended the executive on Sunday.
“I think he’s an honorable guy. I think he probably has an excuse for it,” the president told reporters.
“He’s done an amazing job for our country.”
Nvidia shares plunged as investors confronted another blow to the AI industry
On Monday, November 9, Nvidia’s shares plunged by more than 7% shortly after Wall Street opened, briefly erasing approximately $330 billion from the chipmaker’s market valuation.
The stock subsequently recovered some of those losses but remained down roughly 5% to 6% during the session.
For shareholders, many of whom are regular workers saving for retirement, the timing could hardly have been worse.
The company had already suffered substantial losses amid growing fears that the extraordinary investment flowing into artificial intelligence infrastructure could prove unsustainable.
On November 5, Nvidia shares fell approximately 9.3% during a brutal market-wide sell-off that sent the technology-heavy Nasdaq down 5.5%.
The possibility that an investigation could threaten his position has therefore become a concern for shareholders.
“There is clearly a risk that Jensen could be removed as CEO depending on the Board investigation,” technology analyst Dan Ives told Reuters on November 8.
“This is a black eye moment for Jensen,” Ives added.
In his public statement, Huang acknowledged that the consequences of his actions extended beyond his family.
“To my colleagues at NVIDIA, including those I have worked alongside for decades, and to our board, partners, and shareholders around the world: you deserve better from me,” he wrote.
“Coldplay kiss cam vol. 2.” Readers took to social media to criticize Huang for his affair
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