Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reflects on Oregon roots amid personal scandal and company challenges
Jensen Huang, who grew up and studied in Oregon, apologized to Nvidia staff for an affair, while the company faces an internal investigation and a sharp drop in market value.
Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, a former Oregon State University student, issued a public apology to employees after admitting to an extramarital affair with a technology executive. In a message posted on the company's website, Huang, 63, said, "I owe my family and all of you an apology. 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."
The disclosure has prompted Nvidia to retain an external firm to investigate Huang's conduct. Analysts note that the news has added pressure to a company heavily dependent on Huang's direct management style, and Nvidia's shares have fallen sharply, erasing more than $400 billion in market value this week.
Huang's early life included working at a Denny’s restaurant and playing competitive table tennis while attending Aloha High School near Portland. He enrolled at Oregon State at 17, graduating in 1984, and later co-founded Nvidia in 1993. Although he no longer resides in Oregon, he and his wife Lori, also an Oregon State engineering graduate, have remained philanthropic supporters of the university. In 2022, the couple donated $50 million to fund a collaborative innovation complex for supercomputing research on the Corvallis campus, describing the contribution as a "capstone" of their careers.
The personal scandal has reignited scrutiny of Nvidia's leadership structure, with the company emphasizing its commitment to a thorough review while continuing its operations in the artificial-intelligence chip market.