Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns after his affair raises national security concerns

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned Thursday after his extramarital affair raised national security concerns.

The company named Colette Kress as interim CEO. She is the current executive vice president and chief financial officer.

Huang faced growing calls to resign after his affair with an alleged Chinese spy. Late Wednesday, media reports said Huang had another extramarital affair with an Nvidia employee who reports to him.

The board of directors said Thursday it also named its first-ever chairman, Harvey C. Jones, an entrepreneur and venture investor.

Shares of Nvidia, one of the largest companies in the world, plunged 10% in premarket trading Thursday.

Nvidia’s board had gathered to discuss Huang’s future after revelations that he was having an affair with a former Megaspeed executive suspected of being a Chinese government agent. The New York Times reported Wednesday that Huang also had an affair with an Nvidia executive who reported to him. The Associated Press could not independently confirm those reports.

In its first statement since the scandal broke, Singapore-headquartered Megaspeed International said Thursday that it takes its obligation to comply with U.S. export control laws “extremely seriously.”

Details about Huang’s affair with the former Megaspeed executive are unclear.

“Megaspeed is committed to working constructively and transparently with the U.S. government,” said the statement signed by its chairman and CEO, Tan Yong Pong, who also goes by James Tan.

Nvidia has said it had “no reason to believe” that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, but that its inquiry would examine all available information.

The New York Times reported that the woman with whom Huang had an affair was Alice Huang, who also goes by the name Huang Le, and was a top executive at Megaspeed. The company prominently touts a partnership with Nvidia on its website. The two are not related.