Amid growing scrutiny over Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's extramarital affair and its potential national security implications, the company's board has appointed a prominent Wall Street law firm and a former Manhattan federal prosecutor to investigate whether its founder was targeted in a Chinese intelligence operation.
The development follows reports that Huang admitted to having an extramarital relationship with Alice Huang, a prominent Chinese businesswoman suspected by US intelligence agencies of having links to Chinese espionage.
The Nvidia chief executive also apologised to his wife and family for being “unfaithful” and assured the company of his cooperation with the investigation. The board has appointed Joon H Kim, a former acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his law firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to carry out a “thorough and independent investigation.”
Who is Joon H Kim?
A 55-year-old white-collar defence lawyer and litigation partner at the prestigious New York-based law firm, Kim was born in Los Angeles in 1971 to Korean parents. A second-generation Korean American, his Korean name is Kim Joon-hyun. He completed his undergraduate studies at Stanford University before earning a law degree from Harvard Law School.
Following graduation, Kim clerked for Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum of the Southern District of New York and subsequently joined Cleary Gottlieb in 1997. Over the course of his career, he has held prominent positions in both private legal practice and federal prosecution.
Kim served as an Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) between 2000 and 2006. He returned to the office in 2013 as chief counsel and subsequently became Deputy US Attorney. From March 2017 to January 2018, he served as the acting US Attorney for the district.
During his tenure, Kim supervised several high-profile criminal and civil proceedings, including the federal investigation into the 2017 Halloween truck attack in Manhattan and prosecutions involving organised crime figures and hedge funds.
One of his most prominent assignments came in 2021, when New York Attorney General Letitia James appointed him to co-lead an independent investigation into sexual harassment allegations against then-Governor Andrew Cuomo. The investigation's findings preceded Cuomo's resignation.
In his capacity as a partner in Wachtell Lipton's Litigation Department, Kim focuses on internal corporate investigations, white-collar criminal defence, regulatory enforcement and crisis management.
What will Kim investigate at Nvidia?
Appointed by a committee of independent directors at Nvidia, Kim will examine all available information concerning Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed.
Although Nvidia has maintained that it has “no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised”, the board's decision to commission an independent investigation comes amid mounting scrutiny, including a shareholder lawsuit, an FBI probe and congressional inquiries.
The investigation will also examine allegations that Alice Huang leveraged her relationship with the Nvidia chief executive to facilitate the shipment of the company's chips to China, potentially circumventing US sanctions.
