Jensen Huang called his dealings with a Chinese businesswoman “standard business dealings with customers,” Reuters reported on Friday. He said it in October, in messages to Nvidia general counsel Tim Teter. He was having an affair with her at the time, Reuters said.
The same messages went to chief marketing officer Alison Wagonfeld, according to the report by Max A. Cherney and Jeffrey Dastin. Huang sent them in answer to press queries. Reuters cites two people familiar with the matter and internal correspondence it reviewed.
Huang resigned on Nov. 12, so this is no longer about his job. It matters because the board’s independent investigation is still open. A general counsel also sits at the centre of any inquiry into an executive’s conflicts.
What Reuters says Huang told the two executives
Reuters describes two separate October messages to Nvidia leaders, Teter and Wagonfeld among them. In other messages, Reuters says, Huang affirmed the routine nature of his contacts with Megaspeed International. The woman was a former top executive of that Singapore cloud company.
He described the interactions as appropriate in autumn 2025 too, Reuters says. It reviewed only the October 2026 exchanges, on condition that it not quote them word for word.
Photographs verified by Reuters show the two together in the United States, China and elsewhere since December 2023. We are not naming the woman. Reuters has not verified whether she worked for the Chinese government, and Beijing denies she is a spy.
Teter did not respond to a request for comment and Wagonfeld did not immediately respond, Reuters says. A representative for Huang and an Nvidia spokesperson both declined to comment.
Huang also discussed legal action against The New York Times over an October 2025 article, Reuters reports. No suit followed, and a Times spokesperson said the paper received no legal demand.
Why a press query reached the lawyer and the marketing chief
Nvidia’s own Code of Conduct explains the routing. “Except for authorized spokespersons (our CEO, CFO, Investor Relations personnel, and certain other individuals as described in our policy), we may not communicate on behalf of NVIDIA,” it says. Staff must refer press questions to Corporate Communications, the function Wagonfeld oversees.
Under the SEC’s standards of professional conduct for attorneys, a company lawyer “owes his or her professional and ethical duties to the issuer as an organization.” Dealing with officers “does not make such individuals the attorney’s clients.”
The rule also sets an escalation path. A lawyer who sees evidence of a material violation must report it to the chief legal officer. If management’s answer falls short, he must take it to the audit committee or the board. So what an executive tells the general counsel can decide whether a problem ever reaches the directors.
Nvidia’s general counsel emailed Commerce Department export agents in August 2025 about the Megaspeed investigation. The New York Times reported that on Nov. 9, as TNW summarised. Teter did not know about Huang’s affair when he made that approach, Nvidia told Bloomberg.
What Nvidia’s code and governance rules require
The public code never mentions a chief executive’s private life. It does list “Investments or personal relationships” among activities that “may create a conflict of interest.”
Employees must avoid conflicts, “actual or potential,” between personal gain and their obligations to Nvidia. “If such conflicts arise, we immediately remove ourselves from any decision-making role in the matter,” the code says.
On inquiries, the wording is flat. Staff must “cooperate with internal and external investigations and to provide complete, accurate, and truthful information.” The board’s Compliance Committee looks into suspected violations “promptly, thoroughly, and in accordance with our legal obligations.”
The code binds directors too. A letter from Huang himself opens it, telling employees to “always follow and apply Our Code.” Nvidia’s Corporate Governance Policies, effective March 3, 2025, tell each director to “disclose promptly to the Board” any relationship that could affect his independence.
A director “is entitled to rely on reports or other information provided by Company management, independent auditors, legal counsel and other persons.” The board may also engage outside advisors “at the Company’s expense, who shall report directly to the Board.” Joon H. Kim and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz are those advisors.
What boards generally do with findings of this kind
Nobody has said the board’s investigators have reached any finding about Huang and Teter. Nvidia has not answered the Reuters report either. The general playbook, though, is public.
The Justice Department’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs dates from September 2024. Prosecutors use it to judge how a company handles its own misconduct. It asks whether a company’s communications show that unethical conduct “will bring swift consequences, regardless of the position or title of the employee who engages in the conduct.”
Where a company has removed an executive over a compliance violation, it asks how openly the company explained the terms of the separation.
Nvidia’s own remedies run from training and coaching to “termination of employment.” Its code adds that any waiver for an executive officer or director “will be disclosed in line with applicable rules or laws.” Boards that removed chief executives over relationships usually acted on the failure to disclose. Our piece on CEOs ousted over relationships runs through those cases.
What Nvidia has and has not said since Nov. 8
This timeline uses Nvidia’s statements and filings, checked against its newsroom on Nov. 14.
| Date | What Nvidia said | What it left out |
|---|---|---|
| Nov. 8 | The board opened an investigation over reports that Huang “has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort” | Directors, counsel, timetable |
| Nov. 10 | Independent directors named Joon H. Kim and Wachtell | The scope of the review |
| Nov. 12 | An 8-K and a release recorded the resignation and Kress’s interim role | Any reason, any severance, the investigation |
| Nov. 13 | Product news only | The Reuters report |
Nvidia has still not said whether the Kim review continues. Our guide to the board and our account of the resignation both make that point. The code binds employees and directors, and Huang is neither.
Congress set a deadline on Friday, then went quiet
Colette Kress runs Nvidia as interim chief executive and reports third-quarter results on Nov. 17.
On Nov. 12 three House chairs asked Huang for a closed-door, transcribed interview on Dec. 1. They lead the Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and China committees.
The chairs gave him until 8 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 13, to confirm or face a subpoena, their letter says.
As of Saturday morning in the United States, no report said whether Huang confirmed. None said whether the chairs issued a subpoena. Huang “has agreed to appear in the coming weeks,” Chairman Brian Mast said on Thursday, CNBC reported. He gave no date.
The same chairs wrote to Teter and to Commerce Under Secretary Jeffrey Kessler under that deadline. Senate Banking Chairman Tim Scott has summoned Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for December, CNBC said. For how the inquiry began, see our explainer on the Nvidia investigation into Jensen Huang.
