Nvidia Board Hires Wachtell and Former Manhattan Prosecutor Joon Kim for Huang Inquiry

The hiring follows a board statement on Sunday, November 8, which said the board had opened an independent investigation after reports that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. The inquiry will examine whether Nvidia's secrets or US national security were compromised after Huang acknowledged an affair with a woman connected to Chinese intelligence, CNBC reported. Kim joined Wachtell last month, according to CNBC.

The outcome matters well beyond Nvidia's boardroom. The company supplies most of the chips behind the global AI build-out, and investors are now weighing whether the inquiry could cost it the founder who has run it for more than three decades. Nvidia shares fell more than 4% on Monday and about 6% on Tuesday, CNBC reported, and on Tuesday Microsoft overtook Nvidia in market value for the first time since June 2025. Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives told Yahoo Finance that if Huang were removed as CEO, "Nvidia is worth a lot less (25%-30%) as a company/stock."

In Sunday's statement, the board said a committee of independent directors, supported by outside counsel, would oversee the review. It said it had no reason to believe that national security or Nvidia's secrets had been compromised, but that the inquiry would consider all available information. The board said Huang supports the review and has agreed to cooperate, and it expressed confidence in him and his leadership team.

The woman involved is Alice Huang, an Asian technology executive affiliated with Megaspeed, an Nvidia customer, according to CNBC. In an email to staff on Sunday, Jensen Huang acknowledged the affair and described himself as an American who supports US national security, CNBC reported. The New York Times and the Financial Times have reported that US intelligence agencies kept Alice Huang under surveillance and concluded that she is passing information to Beijing. Nvidia has said Huang intends to remain chief executive without interruption.

The inquiry is also drawing in the White House. On Tuesday afternoon, The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump was told aboard Air Force One in May, by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that US intelligence linked Huang to a woman believed to be a Chinese spy. The warning came shortly before Huang joined Trump's trip to Beijing at the president's invitation, the newspaper reported, and it was at least the second time in seven months that Trump had been briefed on the matter. On Monday Trump told reporters he had become aware of the matter "not too long ago" and that the FBI was "looking into it". On Tuesday he called Huang "an honorable guy", according to Yahoo Finance.

The board's choice of a former chief federal prosecutor in Manhattan gives the review a figure with experience of national security and criminal cases at a time when the company is also facing a shareholder lawsuit over Huang's ties to the woman and renewed pressure from lawmakers over AI chip sales to China. The board did not give a timetable for the investigation and said it would share updates as appropriate. Nvidia reports quarterly results on November 17.