The TOI correspondent from Washington: A second alleged extra-marital affair brought down Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Thursday after the company board initially appeared to stand by him following glowing testimonials from President Donald Trump, who repeatedly vouched for his character despite reports of his being entrapped by a Chinese spy.The Nvidia board’s Nov 8 statement had struck a reassuring note, expressing confidence in Huang and asserting there was no reason to believe that Nvidia’s national security or corporate secrets had been compromised, while announcing an independent investigation into the matter. Four days later the confidence evaporated after the second alleged affair, which company insiders were apparently aware of, was leaked to the NYT.Beyond the turmoil at Nvidia, where Huang’s two adult children, Madison and Spencer, have director-level roles, there is now considerable embarrassment for President Trump, who invested political capital vouching for Huang’s character. He called him an “honourable man” and a “great guy who… has done an amazing job for our country.” Hours after Huang quit, Trump did not address the scandal but said in a post on Truth Social, “NOW THAT Nvidia CEO JENSEN HUANG, who has done a fantastic job, has resigned, there is only one man to take his place – TIM COOK of Apple. A Legend replaces a Legend!”But the fallout from the scandal goes beyond the Nvidia boardroom and the tech world. It is already shaking up Washington’s political establishment, drawing in Trump’s cabinet secretaries, some of whom were at odds with each other, as intelligence reports emerged over the past year about Huang’s affair with the alleged Chinese spy. Democrats are also champing at the bit to begin investigations and hearings into the matter.According to several accounts, it was secretary of state Marco Rubio, who is also the US national security adviser, who supervised a classified intelligence memorandum warning the administration about Huang’s relationship with an alleged Chinese spy. Rubio is also reported to have personally briefed Trump aboard Air Force One in May, before Huang joined the presidential delegation in Alaska for the onward flight to China.The controversy has also drawn in commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and treasury secretary Scott Bessent. According to a report in Axios, Bessent raised the question of the administration’s failure to place Megaspeed, allegedly a front company Alice Huang worked for, on the commerce department’s Entity List, which would restrict its access to American technology. Lutnick, who, like Huang, has argued that excessive restrictions risk sacrificing commercial opportunities and provoking a trade war, reportedly muttered that he needed to check with Trump.Trump himself has been careful about ratcheting up temperature on the affair given an upcoming meeting next week with China’s President Xi Jinping at the Apec summit in Shenzhen, and Nvidia’s criticality to not just American tech primacy but also to the US stock market, a Trump obsession which he seems to believe is an indicator of economic health.
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