With Colette Kress now interim CEO and Nvidia's board searching for Jensen Huang's permanent successor, Reuters has a new report that I…
With Colette Kress now interim CEO and Nvidia's board searching for Jensen Huang's permanent successor, Reuters has a new report that I think matters more for governance than the succession chatter does.
According to October messages Reuters reviewed, Huang told general counsel Tim Teter and CMO Alison Wagonfeld that his relationship with Alice Huang, a former Megaspeed executive, and with Megaspeed itself reflected "standard business dealings with customers." Reuters, citing two people familiar with the matter, reports he misled them.
Megaspeed is a Singapore-based Nvidia customer that, per Reuters, U.S. officials had already been investigating for more than a year over ties to China.
This also has some history. In autumn 2025, after press inquiries brought Megaspeed and Alice Huang to the attention of some Nvidia leaders, Huang described the interactions as appropriate, according to Reuters' sources. Nvidia and a representative for Huang did not comment on the latest report.
My read: a general counsel's job is to assess risk, and that depends on getting accurate information from the people closest to it. When the input on a customer under a year-plus federal investigation comes from the CEO himself, and Reuters says that input was misleading, the legal team is working with a handicap.
For a company this exposed to China-related scrutiny, I'd want to know what the board does with this, separate from whoever ends up in the CEO chair. Tuesday's earnings call is the first chance to hear it.
$NVDA
Sources:
Straits Times (Reuters): https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/ex-nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-misled-top-lawyer-on-affair-with-alice-huang-sources-say?ref=latest-headlines
mlq.ai: https://mlq.ai/news/jensen-huang-misled-nvidias-top-lawyer-about-his-ties-to-alice-huang-reuters-reports-as-he-hires-paul-weiss/
Not financial advice. For informational and educational purposes only.