NVIDIA board hires top prosecutor to investigate CEO Jensen Huang

Independent directors have retained Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct what the board called a "thorough and independent investigation", opened on November 8. Leading the probe is Joon H. Kim, 55, a Wachtell partner and former acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

The investigation follows a New York Times report (October 29) that US intelligence concluded Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, was feeding information to Beijing. Reuters says it could not independently verify that allegation, which China has denied. No charges have been filed, and no evidence has been made public that Jensen Huang knowingly passed confidential information to anyone. The board says it has "no reason to believe" national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised.

Huang has admitted the extramarital affair, apologised, and says he will cooperate fully and keep leading the company.

A shareholder class action was filed on November 9 in federal court in San Jose, California, alleging investors were misled. Shares fell 4.3% that day, wiping out about $190 billion in market value, and were down about 5.5% at Tuesday's close.

Three House committee chairs have requested a closed-door briefing on November 18, with Huang's reply due November 11. NVIDIA reports Q3 earnings on November 17. President Trump said the FBI is "looking into" the affair.

Source: Reuters / Korea Times