To The Moon

Five people who previously worked at NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) have revealed that the company's chief executive, Jensen Huang, was also involved in an extramarital affair with an executive who reported directly to him, according to NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA).

The previously unreported relationship involved Kimberly Powell, NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA)'s vice president of healthcare. Under NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA)'s code of conduct, employees are required to "avoid situations where our conduct creates a conflict," including "personal relationships," and the company states that it "promptly investigates reports of misconduct." Many companies have policies prohibiting managers from having romantic relationships with their subordinates.

According to two people who previously worked at NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA), the 63-year-old Huang and the 48-year-old Powell were seen engaging in intimate behavior at a hotel in San Jose, California, during NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA)'s conference in March. Both Huang and Powell are married. Huang co-founded NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) in 1993 and built it into the leading supplier of artificial intelligence chips, and he is now facing increasing scrutiny.

This month, after Huang acknowledged the extramarital affair, NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA)'s board launched an investigation into the matter, led by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Republican leaders of three influential House committees also asked Huang to appear at a closed-door briefing regarding his dealings with a woman named "Alice Huang." On Wednesday, when a reporter reached Huang by phone and asked about his relationship with Powell, Huang said, "I don't think you should talk to me directly." He then hung up. NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) declined to comment. Powell did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The five people said that Huang's relationship with Powell, NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA)'s vice president of healthcare, had been discussed internally at the company. Powell joined NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) in 2008. According to the company's website, she oversees projects applying NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA)'s chip technology to higher education and healthcare, especially medical imaging equipment. Powell rose through the ranks at NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA). According to her LinkedIn profile, she was promoted to senior director of artificial intelligence business development in 2016. By the end of 2017, she had been appointed vice president of healthcare. She attends technology conferences around the world and speaks on behalf of the company.

In March, Powell attended NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA)'s annual developer conference GTC in San Jose, where she spoke about how artificial intelligence can help drive breakthroughs in healthcare and biology. Her presentation used a cartoon image of Huang. During the conference, NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) executives met at a nearby hotel. Huang and Powell were seen engaging in intimate behavior at the hotel. Three people familiar with the matter said a bystander used a mobile phone to record the interaction. These people said Huang's security personnel discovered that the bystander had a phone and removed the person from the scene. The security personnel offered the person a proposal to sign a non-disclosure agreement.