Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is in trouble again. He seems to have some self-discipline issues; we recently reported on his alleged assignations with one Alice Huang (no relation) who is reported to have connections in the Chinese Communist Party. Now, that in itself would be bad enough, but on Wednesday a report surfaced that Jensen Huang was also having an affair with an Nvidia executive who reported to him.
That won't fly in any American corporation, or at least, it shouldn't.
Jensen Huang, the leader of Nvidia who is under investigation for an affair with a woman who U.S. intelligence determined is a Chinese spy, also had an extramarital relationship with an executive who reports to him, according to five people who worked at the company.
The relationship, which has not been previously reported, was with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of health care, said the people, who spoke under the condition of anonymity to describe sensitive information. Under Nvidia’s code of conduct, employees are told to “avoid situations where our actions create conflict” including “personal relationships,” and the company states that it “promptly investigates reports of misconduct.” Many corporations have policies against managers having relationships with subordinates.
Note that the five people are not named, making this an unverified report. But there seems to be other evidence, as well.
Mr. Huang, 63, and Ms. Powell, 48, were captured on video being affectionate at a San Jose, Calif., hotel during a Nvidia conference in March, according to two of the people who worked at the company. The New York Times has not seen the video.
Both Mr. Huang and Ms. Powell are married to other people.
OK, if all of this is true, then Jensen Huang would seem to have some self-discipline problems that would make Bill Clinton blush. Not only is he suspected of falling afoul of a Chinese honey trap scheme, and remember, in that case he actually admitted to the affair, if not to the subject of that affair being a spy — but now he's implicated as having taken part in a friends-with-benefits relationship with one of his own employees? We do know that Nvidia's board has already initiated an investigation into its CEO's relationship with Alice Huang; it seems likely that will not include his relationship with Kimberly Powell.
That has to have Jensen Huang getting some stern looks from Nvidia's board of directors. Most companies have rules about things like this, especially when there's a direct-report relationship involved, even more so when both parties are married to other people. People have had careers ruined for far less. While there's no federal law against such relationships, there are many pitfalls; claims of harassment, favoritism, unfair promotions; there are dozens of reasons to avoid this type of temptation, aside from the obvious one about spouses being on the phone to a divorce lawyer when they find out about the affair.
And they always seem to find out. As well they should. After all, the best way to keep these kinds of affairs from reaching a spouse's ears, is to not have them. Think how much trouble Jensen Huang could have spared himself by just observing his wedding vows.
The New York Times reached out to both Mr. Huang and Ms. Powell.
When reached by phone Wednesday and asked about his relationship with Ms. Powell, Mr. Huang said, “I don’t think you should be talking to me directly.” He then hung up.
Nvidia declined to provide a statement. Ms. Powell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
You don't say.
Stay tuned. Jensen Huang's life may be about to get much more complicated.
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