Jensen Huang Kimberly Powell is the pairing at the centre of the biggest corporate scandal of the year. The New York Times reported on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, that the Nvidia chief executive had an extramarital relationship with Powell. Minutes later, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia's board is preparing to remove him.
Key Facts
- The New York Times reported on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had an extramarital relationship with Kimberly Powell, his vice president of health care.
- The Wall Street Journal reported the same day that Nvidia’s board is preparing to oust Huang and could meet as soon as Wednesday. No decision is public yet.
- As a result, Nvidia shares fell more than 7% in after-hours trading.
- The reports come three days after Huang admitted infidelity in a staff email, and the board opened an independent investigation.
Jensen Huang Kimberly Powell is the pairing at the centre of the biggest corporate scandal of the year. The New York Times reported on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, that the Nvidia chief executive had an extramarital relationship with Powell. Minutes later, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia’s board is preparing to remove him.
What Did The New York Times Report About Jensen Huang and Kimberly Powell?
According to the Times, five people who worked at Nvidia said Huang had a relationship with Powell. The paper added that nobody had reported the relationship before. Powell is 48, Huang is 63, and both are married to other people.
Two of the sources told the Times that someone captured the pair on video being affectionate at a San Jose hotel during Nvidia’s GTC conference in March. However, the Times said it has not seen the video. Nvidia declined to comment, and Powell did not immediately respond. For that reason, the relationship remains a report, not a confirmed fact.
Who Is Kimberly Powell?
Powell is one of Nvidia’s longest-serving executives. She joined Nvidia in 2008, became vice president of health care in late 2017, and built that business from scratch. In addition, she reports directly to Huang. Still, no freely licensed photograph of Powell exists in public archives, so this article carries no image of her.
What Is Nvidia’s Board Planning?
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Nvidia’s board is preparing to oust Huang after his two extramarital affairs. The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said directors could meet as soon as Wednesday. At the same time, the paper stressed that no final decision is public yet.
Only three days earlier, Nvidia told CNBC that Huang was “committed to continuing to lead NVIDIA as CEO without interruption.” Now, however, the board may act before its independent investigation even finishes.
Meanwhile, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz leads that investigation, with former acting U.S. attorney Joon H. Kim running it. Nvidia has never named a successor to Huang, who has run the company for 33 years. As a result, a sudden exit would leave the world’s most valuable chipmaker without an obvious next leader.
How Did the Markets React?
Investors moved fast. Nvidia shares fell more than 7% in after-hours trading on Wednesday, according to CNBC, after the Journal’s report landed minutes after the Times story. The fall matters because Nvidia powers the artificial intelligence boom — for example, its chips run nearly every major AI system. A leadership crisis at the top, therefore, is not just a gossip story, and traders priced it that way within minutes.
How Did We Get Here? The Alice Huang Affair and the Board Investigation
The Powell report is the second affair allegation against Huang in under two weeks. In late October, the Times reported that U.S. officials believed China had recruited Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive, and that she had a relationship with Jensen Huang — no relation.
On Sunday, November 8, Huang emailed Nvidia staff and admitted he had been unfaithful to his wife. “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,” he wrote. However, the email named no other person and said nothing about divorce.
That same day, the board opened an independent investigation into reports of a foreign intelligence effort targeting Huang. It said it had “no reason to believe” anyone had compromised Nvidia secrets. China, meanwhile, calls the spying claims smears. Nobody has published the memo behind the claims, and nobody faces charges.
What Happens Next for Jensen Huang?
Three dates will decide the outcome. First, the board meeting: if directors meet on Wednesday, a decision could come at any time. Second, the investigation, still running. Third, the November 17 earnings report, when Huang would normally face investors directly.
The Jensen Huang Kimberly Powell report also invites comparison with earlier billionaire scandals. We compared all three episodes in our earlier report, Bezos, Byron and Huang: Three Billionaire Relationship Dramas That Owned the Headlines.
Overall, the divorce question is still open. No filing has surfaced, and our earlier analysis — could a Jensen Huang divorce beat Jeff Bezos’ $38 billion record? — stressed that the $81 billion figure circulating online is hypothetical maths, not a settlement. What has changed is the job: for the first time, the question is whether Huang keeps the company at all.
Jensen Huang Scandal Timeline
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| Oct 29, 2026 | Times reports U.S. officials believe China recruited Alice Huang; she had a relationship with Jensen Huang. |
| Nov 8, 2026 | Huang emails staff admitting infidelity; board opens an independent investigation. |
| Nov 11, 2026 | Times reports Huang had a second relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s VP of health care. |
| Nov 11, 2026 | Journal reports the board is preparing to oust Huang; shares fall 7%+ after hours. |
| Nov 17, 2026 | Nvidia due to report third-quarter results. |
| Nov 18, 2026 (reported) | House chairs ask Huang to attend a closed-door briefing. |
Reported vs. confirmed: the Powell relationship comes from the Times, citing five former Nvidia staff, and the Times has not seen the video. The board’s plans come from the Journal; no decision is public yet. Huang’s admission, the investigation, and the share fall are on the record. We will update this article as the story develops.
Sources
- MarketWatch via Morningstar — Nvidia’s stock drops as the board reportedly prepares to remove CEO Jensen Huang (covers the NYT and WSJ reports; share-price fall): morningstar.com
- Seeking Alpha — Nvidia CEO Huang may have had relationship with company exec, Kimberly Powell (NYT report): seekingalpha.com
- Reuters — Nvidia launches probe after report CEO Huang was target of foreign intelligence effort (Nov 8 admission and board investigation): reuters.com
- Nvidia Newsroom — Statement from Nvidia Board of Directors: nvidianews.nvidia.com
- Nvidia Newsroom — “A Message to Our Company” (Huang staff email, Nov 8, 2026): nvidianews.nvidia.com
