Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang. Biography
Jensen Huang is an American entrepreneur, engineer, billionaire and co—founder of Nvidia technology company, one of the largest manufacturers of processors for artificial intelligence (AI). On November 12, 2026, he resigned as CEO of Nvidia amid a scandal related to his personal life and the investigation of possible threats to U.S. national security. About the life, career and circumstances of the entrepreneur's resignation — in the material of Izvestia.
Early years and education
Jensen Huang (full name — Jen-Xun Huang) was born on February 17, 1963 in Tainan, Taiwan. His father worked as a chemical engineer, and his mother was a schoolteacher. The entrepreneur also has an older brother.
In 1972, nine-year-old Jensen and his brother moved to live with relatives in Tacoma, Washington. The boys were later assigned to the Oneida Baptist Institute boarding school in Kentucky. Huang faced harassment from other students and strict discipline. He had to do household chores every day, including cleaning the premises.
When his parents moved to the United States, the family reunited in Oregon. There, Jensen continued his studies at Aloha High School, graduating at the age of 16. After high school, Huang enrolled at the University of Oregon in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering. In 1984, he received his bachelor's degree and began working at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a company engaged in the development of semiconductor devices.
Founding of Nvidia
In 1993, Huang teamed up with engineers Chris Malachowski and Curtis Priem, who had previously worked at Sun Microsystems. The future partners wanted to create their own company — they discussed the idea at a Denny's restaurant in California.
The entrepreneurs registered Nvidia on April 5, 1993. Huang assumed the positions of president and CEO, which he retained for the next 33 years. Initially, the company developed graphics accelerators for personal computers. Its first notable product was the NV1 multimedia processor, released in 1995. However, the device did not gain the expected popularity due to technical features and competition.
In 1997, the company introduced the RIVA 128, which was a commercial success and helped it gain a foothold in the computer graphics market. In January 1999, Nvidia conducted an initial public offering on the Nasdaq American stock exchange. In the same year, the corporation released the GeForce 256, which it positioned as the world's first graphics processor (GPU).
Technology development and entry into the artificial intelligence market
In 2006, Nvidia introduced the CUDA software and hardware platform. It allowed developers to use graphics processors to solve mathematical problems, scientific calculations, and process large amounts of data.
In 2012, Nvidia graphics processors were used to create the AlexNet neural network, developed by researchers Alex Krizhevsky, Ilya Sutskever and Jeffrey Hinton. The system has demonstrated significant progress in image recognition and has become one of the important stages in the development of modern deep learning.
In 2016, Nvidia introduced the DGX-1 computing system, designed to work with neural networks. One of the first recipients of such equipment was the OpenAI company, which was engaged in artificial intelligence research.
At the same time, the corporation expanded its business in the field of server equipment, high-performance computing and unmanned vehicles. In 2020, Nvidia completed the acquisition of Mellanox Technologies for $7 billion. The deal allowed us to strengthen our position in the market of high-speed network connections used in data centers.
After the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022, the demand for equipment for training and operating neural networks began to grow rapidly. Major technology companies, including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta, have increased investments in data centers. As a result, Nvidia has become one of the main suppliers of graphics accelerators for the development of generative AI.
Nvidia's capitalization growth and Huang's fortune
In 2023, the corporation's market capitalization exceeded $1 trillion for the first time. In June 2024, Nvidia became the most expensive public company in the world for a while, ahead of Microsoft and Apple. In October 2025, its capitalization exceeded $5 trillion. The main growth factor remained the high demand for computing processors for artificial intelligence.
Nvidia's success has made Jensen Huang one of the richest entrepreneurs in the world. The bulk of his fortune was made up of shares in the company he founded. According to Forbes estimates on November 11, 2026, the businessman's fortune was about $151.2 billion. He was ranked 11th in the ranking of the richest people on the planet.
Huang also gained fame through public appearances at technology conferences. His distinctive feature was a black leather jacket, in which the entrepreneur regularly presented new Nvidia products.
The personal life of Jensen Huang
Jensen Huang is married to Lori Mills, whom he met while studying at the University of Oregon. Both studied engineering and attended classes together. Subsequently, the entrepreneur said that he initially began to communicate with his future wife, offering her help in preparing for school.
In 1985, the couple married. The couple had two children, a son, Spencer, and a daughter, Madison. Both children subsequently started working at Nvidia. Madison was involved in the marketing of the company's technology products, while Spencer was involved in robotics and modeling.
Before joining the corporation, the entrepreneur's children worked in other fields. In particular, Madison received a culinary education, and Spencer participated in the creation of a cocktail bar in Taiwan.
The scandal surrounding his personal life and the investigation
In the fall of 2026, Jensen Huang found himself at the center of a scandal involving his extramarital affairs and possible threats to U.S. national security. In October, The New York Times published information about the entrepreneur's alleged relationship with Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le. Previously, the woman held a senior position at Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based cloud computing company.
According to the publication, American intelligence agencies suspect Alice Huang of allegedly collaborating with Chinese intelligence. However, she is not related to Jensen Huang, despite the coincidence of surnames.
Megaspeed was an Nvidia partner and had access to its computing equipment. Earlier, the company came under the scrutiny of the American authorities due to suspicions of supplying modern processors to China, bypassing export restrictions.
Later, Nvidia's board of directors announced the launch of an independent investigation to determine whether the head of the corporation could have been the target of a foreign intelligence operation. The company stressed that at that time it had no reason to believe that American national security or Nvidia's trade secrets had been compromised.
On the same day, Huang issued an appeal to the staff, in which he admitted adultery and apologized to his family and colleagues. The businessman stated that his actions had caused pain to his wife and children, and expressed his willingness to cooperate with the investigation.
The FBI has begun checking the circumstances of Huang's alleged ties to Chinese intelligence officials. By November 11, no criminal charges had been filed against the businessman.
The situation became more complicated after The New York Times reported on the same day about another alleged extramarital affair between Huang and Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare.
Departure of Jensen Huang from the post of Nvidia CEO
On November 12, 2026, Jensen Huang resigned from the positions of CEO and president of Nvidia, as well as resigned from the board of directors of the corporation. His retirement came after 33 years of continuous leadership of the company he founded.
Colette Kress, the corporation's Chief Financial Officer, was appointed Acting CEO. She will continue to lead Nvidia until Huang's permanent successor is selected.
At the same time, Harvey Jones, who previously headed Synopsys, became chairman of the Board of Directors. Prior to this, there was no separate position of chairman of the board in the Nvidia structure. The resignation announcement caused a negative reaction from investors. Nvidia shares fell by more than 10% at the preliminary auction on November 12.
Analysts attributed the concerns of market participants to Huang's role in developing the corporation's long-term strategy. For three decades, he has been personally involved in making key technological decisions, interacting with suppliers and major customers.
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