Just five months before news of his extra-marital affair broke, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had credited his wife Lori for looking after their children so he could focus on work. Speaking on the ‘How I Built This’ podcast in May, Huang, 63, had opened up about his early days as the CEO of Nvidia and how that required sacrificing family time.
Earlier this week, Huang acknowledged an affair with Alice Huang (no relation), a woman US officials say was working for Chinese intelligence. The New York Times had reported last month that US intelligence officials concluded that Alice Huang, a Chinese executive linked to a Singapore-based data center company called Megaspeed, had been funnelling information to Beijing.
(Also read: Jensen Huang met wife Lori at 17, told her he would be CEO by 30)
Jensen Huang’s family
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s admission of an extra-marital affair has put the spotlight on his marriage with Lori Mills Huang, his wife of over four decades. The two met as undergraduate students at Oregon State University in the early 1980s. They married right out of college, in the year 1985.
Jensen and Lori Huang have two children together, Madison Huang and Spencer Huang, who are both in their 30s. Both Madison and Spencer work at Nvidia.
{{/usCountry}}Jensen and Lori Huang have two children together, Madison Huang and Spencer Huang, who are both in their 30s. Both Madison and Spencer work at Nvidia.
{{/usCountry}}In a message to company employees released Sunday, the Nvidia chief acknowledged having an affair and apologized to his family and company staff.
"I was unfaithful to my wife," he said. "My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry."
When Jensen Huang praised his wife
Speaking on an episode of the ‘How I Built This’ podcast with Guy Raz, Jensen Huang had recalled his early days of marriage. He said that he was completing his master’s degree at Stanford when he had two young children with Lori. The CEO of Nvidia said he missed out on a large part of watching his children grow up.
Lori, he said, stepped in to look after the family, allowing him to focus on his education and work.
“When the kids were still young, I was finishing my master's at Stanford. And so I was busy on multiple levels,” Jensen Huang recalled. “And yeah, I missed all their karate tournaments. I missed a lot. I missed a lot.”
“Lori took care of everything”
“But if you're going to build a company, you need somebody strong and you need somebody amazing like my wife. And she took care of everything,” Huang said.
“Lori took care of everything. And I don't remember her complaining even one time, one nanosecond or even one instance. That's the gift that she gave me,” he said.
(Also read: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s net worth stands at $155 billion as the 10th richest person in the world)
Elsewhere during the conversation, he said that having family support allowed him to take risks.
“I've always felt safe taking risks. Maybe it's because I know that when I get home, Lori is still there,” said Huang. “Maybe it's because when I get home, I know the kids are there. Maybe I know that all of our employees are going to be here. Maybe that's as complicated as it is.”
Huang has been married for 41 years to Lori Huang. Their daughter Madison Huang is a senior director of product and technical marketing for physical AI platforms at Nvidia, while their son Spencer Huang manages robotics software products.