Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Reportedly Hired Crisis PR Firm a Year Before Admitting Affair
Wired reports that Jensen Huang, CEO of U.S. chipmaker Nvidia, engaged crisis communications firm Heller Inc. at least a year before publicly acknowledging an extramarital affair. Nvidia's board has announced an independent investigation.
Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, the company that makes chips used for artificial intelligence computing, hired the crisis communications firm Heller Inc. at least a year before he publicly acknowledged an extramarital affair, Wired has reported. The woman involved has been suspected of spying for China.
Heller Inc. was founded by Risa Heller, who, according to a 2023 New York Magazine profile, has advised prominent men facing personal scandals and sexual misconduct accusations. Her reported clients include former U.S. congressman Anthony Weiner, celebrity chef Mario Batali and former New Yorker writer Jeffrey Toobin.
Link to export-control questions
Wired also reported that Nvidia's internal communications team was instructed to copy Heller Inc. on press inquiries about Huang shortly after an October 2025 New York Times article. That report examined whether Nvidia was helping Chinese companies get around U.S. chip export restrictions.
The Times said Megaspeed, a then little-known Singapore-based data center company with ties to China, had acquired nearly $2 billion worth of Nvidia chips. The article described Megaspeed CEO Alice Huang, the woman later linked to Jensen Huang, standing next to him at a gathering of Nvidia customers in Taipei.
Nvidia's statements
On Sunday, Nvidia published a statement from Huang acknowledging an affair with a former Megaspeed executive, though he did not name Alice Huang. Nvidia's board separately announced an independent investigation, citing reports that Huang "has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort."
Heller Inc. and Nvidia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
