Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang entered the semiconductor maker’s headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., on Monday for a regular morning meeting with top executives, a person familiar with the meeting told CNBC.
Mr. Hwang disclosed the affair to an employee on Sunday.
Mr. Hwang began the private meeting by talking about his infidelity and saying he was sorry for his staff, according to the people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. They said Huang did not take any questions and quickly moved on to business and the most important topics of the day.
The CEO was also in the office on Tuesday for a meeting just a week before the company’s quarterly earnings report.
Nvidia did not respond to requests for comment.
Insiders at the artificial intelligence chip giant said Mr. Huang had tried to play “business as usual” despite an ongoing investigation into his ties to a suspected Chinese spy. According to the Financial Times, the CEO was romantically involved with former Megaspeed executive Alice Huang.
On Sunday, feelings toward Jensen Huang changed after the 63-year-old revealed in an email to an employee that he had been having an affair, although he did not say who he had the affair with.
“I know that an apology alone cannot undo what I have done,” he wrote. “We hope that our family can recover and, over time, regain trust.” Nvidia’s board of directors launched an investigation on Tuesday and hired Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct the investigation.
Employees at the company described the atmosphere to CNBC as “sad.” One employee told CNBC that he was shocked by Jensen Huang’s revelations.
People also told CNBC that longtime employees viewed Jensen Huang as an idol who could do no wrong and considered him a guiding light. Many of the company’s employees also say they have trouble understanding the CEO’s actions.
Jensen Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 to develop graphics processing units for video game graphics. In recent years, the company has become synonymous with the AI boom, driving technology that supports large-scale language models and building large-scale data centers.
The Nvidia CEO, who is central to the development of all AI layers, is also a prominent voice in Washington, and even accompanied President Donald Trump on a trip to China in May. In September, Jensen and his wife Jensen Huang were photographed sitting at the same table as Chinese President Xi Jinping at a state dinner at the White House.
News of the CEO’s extramarital affair has brought increased attention to his continued support for expanding AI chip sales to China.
