Who Is Kimberly Powell? Jensen Huang Had Affair with Nvidia Healthcare VP as Company Gears Up to Ouster Him

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is reportedly facing allegations of an affair with an employee, deepening the controversy surrounding the tech giant following claims that he had a sexual relationship with an alleged Chinese spy.

Huang had an affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of health care, the New York Times reported on Thursday citing five people familiar with the chipmaker’s workplace. While Powell, 48, reported to Huang, the two were caught in a video displaying affection toward each other at a hotel in San Jose, California, during Nvidia’s conference in March, two of the sources said. Huang and Powell also attended Nvidia’s GTC conference in Berlin, Germany, in October.

Hiding It from Others

Around the same time, Powell was spotted flaunting her engagement ring, despite reports of her alleged relationship with Huang. Both are married to other people. The reported affair could also have breached Nvidia’s workplace conduct policy, which tells employees to avoid potential conflicts of interest, including those arising from personal relationships.

The company also vows to investigate allegations of misconduct promptly.

Nvidia shares fell about 8% in after-hours trading following the revelations. The stock has shed more than $300 billion in market value since reports emerged of Huang’s alleged affair with Alice Huang, who was accused of being a Chinese spy.

Meanwhile, Nvidia’s board is reportedly preparing to remove Huang as CEO, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Wall Street Journal.

The board was reportedly considering holding a meeting as early as Wednesday to decide Huang’s future at the company, the sources said.

Huang co-founded Nvidia in April 1993 and led its transformation into one of the world’s most valuable companies.

U.S. President Donald Trump has praised Huang for his contributions to the development of “superintelligence.” The two have also been seen together on several occasions.

Powell joined Nvidia in 2008 and rose through its ranks. She became senior director of artificial intelligence business development in 2016 before being appointed vice president of health care in late 2017, according to her LinkedIn profile.

In that role, Powell oversees initiatives exploring how Nvidia’s chip technology can be used in higher education and health care, with a particular focus on medical imaging equipment.

Mutual Admiration

Powell, who is married to 54-year-old Graham “Grady” Gerade and has two children with him, had publicly praised her boss-turned-alleged lover on social media years before reports of their alleged affair emerged.

“Jen-Hsun [Jensen] is named as one of America’s top CEOs by Glassdoor Survey! It’s a awesome place to work, come join us!” she wrote in a June 2016 post on X.

The previous month, she had commented on a photograph of Huang promoting the GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card, which carried the caption, “The GeForce GTX 1080 is almost irresponsible levels of performance.”

“And irresistible for #deeplearning,” Powell wrote in response.

In March, Powell appeared at GTC, Nvidia’s annual developer conference in San Jose, where she discussed how AI could help drive advances in health care and biology. Huang made an unexpected appearance onstage during her presentation.

The two were later reportedly seen displaying affection toward each other at a nearby hotel. Sources told The New York Times that a bystander recorded the encounter on a cellphone.

However, Huang’s security team noticed the person filming and took them aside. The individual was subsequently offered a non-disclosure agreement to sign.

When The New York Times later contacted Huang directly about his relationship with Powell, he responded, “I don’t think you should be talking to me directly,” before ending the call.