Jensen Huang Hired Crisis PR Firm Heller a Year Before Admitting Affair, Wired Says

The report adds a new detail to the governance questions now facing the world's most valuable chipmaker. Nvidia's board opened an independent investigation into Huang's conduct on Sunday, and members of both parties in Congress have called for scrutiny. Wired's account suggests Huang was preparing outside help for personal and reputational problems well before the relationship became public.

According to Wired, Heller's consultants were at first thought to be working on matters connected to Huang's private life, including his family's philanthropy. The firm was in frequent contact with Huang and his daughter Madison, a product marketing director at Nvidia, people familiar with the arrangement told the magazine. Wired said it was not clear whether Heller's early work for the family had anything to do with the affair.

The arrangement widened after The New York Times reported in early October 2025 on Huang's dealings with Megaspeed, a Singapore-based buyer of Nvidia chips, and his ties to a former Megaspeed executive who goes by Alice Huang. That report said the US Commerce Department was examining whether Megaspeed had helped Chinese companies get around American export controls through its subsidiaries. According to Wired, the story caused friction among Nvidia's senior leaders and annoyed Huang. By the end of that month, people familiar with the matter said, Nvidia's internal communications teams had been told to include Heller on every press inquiry about Huang, personal or professional.

Risa Heller, who founded the firm, has a reputation for advising powerful men facing allegations of sexual misconduct and other personal controversies, according to a 2023 New York Magazine profile cited by Wired. Past clients, or people who have sought her advice, include former congressman Anthony Weiner, chef Mario Batali and writer Jeffrey Toobin. The firm also handles routine corporate communications. Before starting it, Heller worked for Jane Harman when she was a Democratic congresswoman from California and was later New York City press secretary for Senator Chuck Schumer. John Rizzo, Nvidia's head of public policy communications, was previously Schumer's deputy communications director.

A representative for Heller referred Wired's questions to Nvidia, which did not immediately respond to the magazine's requests for comment.

Megaspeed was spun out of a Chinese gaming and cloud computing company in 2023, a few months after Washington began restricting exports of advanced chips to China. One of its subsidiaries later became a large buyer of Nvidia hardware. The Times reported that US intelligence officials have concluded Alice Huang, who is not related to the Nvidia chief executive, works for the Chinese government. China has rejected claims that it used a spy to target Huang.

Nvidia first described Huang's contact with her as part of routine business with customers. On Sunday, Huang told staff by email that the relationship had been romantic. "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.

The board said it had no reason to believe that national security or confidential Nvidia information had been compromised. It has not said when its independent review will finish. Nvidia reports quarterly results on November 17, the first scheduled point at which investors can question management since the inquiry began.