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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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Until Nvidia co-founder, president and CEO Jen-Hsun "Jensen" Huang admitted to having had an affair with a suspected Chinese spy, his wife of more than 40 years, Lori Huang, had kept a relatively low profile in their marriage.
But the independent security investigation launched by the multi-trillion-dollar company following reports that Huang might have been the target of foreign intelligence has suddenly thrown her and her family under the spotlight. Huang, born Lori Mills in 1961, has not yet publicly commented on the affair or the investigation around her husband’s close relationship to the Chinese businesswoman.
Newsweek contacted Nvidia for comment by email on Monday morning.
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Who Is Lori Mills Huang?
Lori Mills Huang has been married to Jensen Huang since 1985 and the two have two children, Spencer and Madison, who also work at Nvidia.
Mills and Huang met when they were both studying electrical engineering at Oregon State University; he was 17 and she 19. Five years later, they were married.
Mills was among a handful of women in the male-dominated course, and she was his lab partner in his introductory class. According to an interview Huang gave to the New Yorker in 2023, "there were, like, 250 kids in electrical engineering, and maybe three girls.
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Some of the men were competing for Mills’ attention, Huang said, and he felt that he was at a disadvantage because he was "the youngest kid in the class. I looked like I was about 12."
Huang said that it took him six months to build up the courage to ask Mills out. In the meantime, he tried to impress her by doing homeworks together every weekend.
"If you do homework with me every Sunday, I promise you, you will get straight As," Huang told Mills, as he said in an interview at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2024 after receiving an honorary degree. In his attempt to turn her head, he also told her that he would be a CEO by 30.
After graduating, the two found work in Silicon Valley as microchip designers. Huang told the New Yorker that Mills made more than he did.
They got married in 1985, and after a few years Mills left the workforce to bring up their two children. In 1993, at age 30, Huang founded Nvidia. In 2007, the husband and wife duo established the Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Foundation, a Palo Alto-based charitable foundation focusing on STEM education.
In 2022, the two donated $50 million to Oregon State University to establish the Jen-Hsun and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex, which supports research in AI, robotics, climate science and advanced engineering. They also donated an Nvidia supercomputer to the university, valued at approximately $25 million.
This year, Huang and Mills donated $75 million to Vanderbilt University to help build its new San Francisco campus, set to open in 2027, which will carry both their names as the Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang College of Art, Architecture, and Design.
What Do We Know About Huang’s Affair With a Suspected Chinese Spy?
U.S. intelligence officials believe that Chinese businesswoman Alice Huang or Huang Le, with whom the Nvidia CEO had an affair, was a spy for Beijing, the New York Times reported in October. According to the newspaper, President Donald Trump was briefed on the intelligence findings about a year ago but did not take any action.
Nvidia, one of the world’s most valuable companies and most important to the future of AI technologies, has since opened an independent investigation on the case, but said its board had no reason to believe the company’s secrets or national security were compromised because of the affair.
"While the Board has no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised, the Board’s inquiry will examine all available information," a statement issued by Nvidia’s board of directors said.
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Huang has publicly apologized to his wife and children for the affair, saying in a note to Nvidia staff: "I owe my family and all of you an apology. I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.
"Throughout my life, my family has given me love and support. They deserve my honesty and loyalty. Instead, I let them down and damaged the life we built together. I take full responsibility for what I did and the hurt I caused, and I accept the criticism that comes with it.
"To my wife and family: I love you. I know an apology cannot undo what I have done. I hope our family will heal and that, over time, I can earn back your trust."
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun has denied allegations that Alice Huang was a spy, calling them "entirely groundless, speculative and intended to smear and malign China."
How Are the Allegations Affecting Nvidia?
Nvidia has come to dominate the world’s AI computer chips’ industry, and much of its success has been attributed to its visionary president and CEO Jensen Huang, who has steered the company’s ship for over 30 years.
That is likely the reason why the turmoil around his affair with an alleged Chinese spy is now backfiring on the company, which is worth some $4.5 trillion. After Nvidia said it was opening an investigation into whether Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence effort, out-of-hours trading and perpetual futures products tracking the company’ shares fell about 3 percent on Monday, according to Reuters.
Its shares took an even harder hit in Frankfurt trading, falling by more than 6 percent. If things continue going this way, the company could lose about $270 billion from its closing price on Friday, according to LSEG DataStream. Huang said he will stay, but shares could fall even lower if he was to step down.
Trump, confronted about ignoring the intelligence findings about Alice Huang previously shared with him, backed Huang up, calling him "an honorable guy." The two have a close relationship, with Huang appearing at a recent AI summit at the White House sitting beside the president. On the other side of Trump was Elon Musk.
While saying he has not spoken to him since Nvidia’s investigation was announced, the president told reporters on Sunday: "I just know he’s a fine person, but you never know what’s going on. He added that Huang had "done an amazing job for our country."
Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Robert Greenall and Tobias Meyjes
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