I wrote Jensen Huang's biography – here's what led to his downfall

Stephen Witt presents Jensen Huang’s fall as a story of personal hubris rather than technological failure. He says revelations about at least two affairs - one involving Alice Huang, an executive linked to Southeast Asian data centers suspected of helping China evade U.S. chip restrictions, and another with Nvidia subordinate Kimberly Powell - exposed reckless conduct and helped bring down the company’s longtime chief. Witt connects the first relationship to reports that Nvidia equipment worth billions of dollars was routed into China, and describes a corporate culture of silence that shielded Huang. He also argues that Huang’s public image as a humble, generous family man concealed an explosive temper, intolerance of disagreement and fear-inducing treatment of executives.

The piece contrasts Huang’s professed devotion to his wife and children with his alleged betrayals, and notes the irony of his later advocacy for women at a company with a heavily male workforce and a history of sexist workplace culture. Witt traces the political trigger to Huang’s campaign to persuade President Trump to ease restrictions on chip sales to China, which brought him into conflict with China hawks in the administration, including Marco Rubio; a government memo then exposed damaging information. Nvidia now faces a succession problem, Witt argues, because Huang built the company around himself without preparing a successor. An interim leader may not replace his rare mix of engineering expertise, dealmaking and forceful management, leaving a potentially unfillable gap at the firm he created.