Could Jensen Huang's Affair Be the Most Expensive in Human History? Daragh Thomas Tue, November 10, 2026 at 8:15 AM EST 3 min read NVDA -1.74% AMZN -0.35% Explore stocks on Coinbase Trading disclosure Trading disclosure The above button links to Coinbase. Yahoo Finance is not a broker-dealer or investment adviser and does not offer securities or cryptocurrencies for sale or facilitate trading. Coinbase pays us for certain activity generated through this link. Prices displayed are informational.
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Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares fell 4.3% Monday, wiping out $190 billion in market value. But the financial fallout from CEO Jensen Huang's infidelity could extend well beyond one day's trading.
Dan Ives has argued that Nvidia's AI ambitions depend heavily on Huang remaining CEO, with nobody on the management team capable of replacing him. Investor Joseph Carlson has also warned that the scandal could trigger investigations and restrictions affecting the wider AI industry.
The potential costs are so enormous that Bloomberg columnist Matt Levine suggested Huang's indiscretion could be the most expensive extramarital affair in human history.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder, had to pay MacKenzie Scott Amazon shares worth approximately $38 billion in a divorce settlement, after his relationship with Lauren Sánchez became public in 2019.
Henry the 8th, King of England, annulled his marriage with his first wife, and married Anne Boleyn. For this he was excommunicated by the Pope, and England set out on the path to becoming a Protestant country. He personally made a fortune, as he seized the Catholic Church's monasteries and land, but England was plunged into decades of religious strife. He had Anne executed three years later.
In 37 BC Mark Antony abandoned his marriage to Octavian's sister for Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. Octavian used this to portray Antony as betraying Rome for a foreign queen. The resulting war cost thousands of lives, including those of Antony and Cleopatra, and Egypt lost its independence after nearly 300 years of Ptolemaic rule.
The closest parallel comes from Cold War Britain, where John Profumo, the country's war secretary, had an affair with Christine Keeler, a 19-year-old model who was also involved with a Soviet intelligence officer.
With fears that military secrets might be reaching Moscow through the same woman, the scandal engulfed the British government and forced Profumo's resignation in 1963.
Six decades later, Jensen finds himself at the center of a remarkably similar scandal. He has admitted to an affair with a woman identified in news reports as Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed who shares his surname but is no relation.
She faces unproven allegations of links to Chinese intelligence, prompting Nvidia's board to investigate, although the company says it has no reason to believe any secrets were compromised.
Huang has led Nvidia since co-founding it in 1993, transforming it into an AI powerhouse while becoming the public face of the AI revolution.
On Tuesday, The Information reported that Alice Huang's network helped channel $7.5 billion in Nvidia chips, including restricted models, to China. Nvidia denies violating U.S. export controls.
A shareholder lawsuit has already been filed. Lawmakers say the scandal could help advance bills restricting AI-chip exports to China, threatening Nvidia's business and adding uncertainty to AI investment.
On Polymarket, traders put roughly 14% odds on Huang announcing his departure by year-end, a prospect that would take Nvidia into uncharted territory.
Henry VIII changed a church. Profumo shook a government. Huang's affair could yet change the rules for the AI boom.
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