Image source: AFP via Getty Images
Jensen Huang, famous for showing up to shareholder events wearing a black leather jacket, had it all.
The leaders of both America and China wanted to keep him close to them. Investors liked him very much and his image was of a person who is dedicated to his family.
But despite being like a rock star in his personal life, he ultimately had to resign.
Huang, 63, has been married since 1985. This marriage took place long before the establishment of Nvidia. This company made him a big star in the tech world.
Huang is known as a workaholic and a strict manager. He expected high standards from those who worked with him.
These included his own children, who were promoted to important positions in the company. But this week his personal image suffered a major blow.
Controversies related to love affairs raised questions about his focus on work and ability to take decisions.
He resigned on Thursday after news of two affairs came to light one after the other. The first news revealed his relationship with a businesswoman.
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This woman has been accused of being a Chinese spy. This news was discussed all over the world and questions started being raised among investors also.
Later on Wednesday, news came that the tech company's chief also had an affair with Kimberly Powell, a colleague at Nvidia.
His resignation has created uncertainty in the global stock market. The market was already unstable for the last few weeks.
It is noteworthy that Nvidia is a very important company for America in the race for technological leadership with China.
The person who took the company to 4 trillion dollars
Image source: AFP
Huang may not be as famous a name as Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg, who are now household names.
But their role in the tech industry, especially their contribution to the rapidly increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the last three years, has been much more important.
Nvidia dominates the market for microchips that are used to power new technology.
Despite recent events, the company's valuation is around $4 trillion (almost equal to India's GDP).
This company is at the center of the AI race between America and China. Both these countries are the biggest powers in the world in terms of technology and economy.
Huang had access to the top centers of political power that is difficult to match. Both US President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping wanted to keep him close to them.
'Taylor Swift of the tech world'
Image source: Getty Images
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Due to her extraordinary journey to the top of her profession, she has even been called the 'Taylor Swift of Tech'.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his estimated wealth is around $145 billion.
Huang, who always wears his signature black clothes and adopts a humorous manner during presentations to investors, has tried for years to build his image as a family man.
He continued to present himself as a person who exemplifies the 'American Dream'.
Huang was born in Taiwan in 1963. When he was nine years old, his family settled on the west coast of America.
He graduated in Electrical Engineering from Oregon State University. After this, he obtained a master's degree in the same subject from Stanford University.
It was in college that he met Laurie Mills. Both were partners in the same lab. They got married in 1985. Eight years later, Huang founded Nvidia.
With the rapid growth of the AI industry, he made the company a multi-trillion dollar semiconductor company.
They have two children, Madison and Spencer. Both now work in senior positions at Nvidia.
Initially the company became a major supplier of computer chips and circuits used for gaming.
Later he expanded his work in a new direction. The company now manufactures critical processing chips needed to run AI technology.
'Talented but arrogant'
Huang has described AI as a 'new industrial revolution'. According to him, this revolution is as big as the invention of electricity.
Nvidia is the second most valuable company in the world. World's biggest companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, SpaceX, Tesla, OpenAI and Anthropic are among its customers.
All these companies are spending heavily on Nvidia products.
So it is not surprising that Huang was selected from a group of 42 people to meet with President Trump at the recent AI conference held at the White House.
Elon Musk was also with him. Trump's very close relations with these two people are well known.
Stephen Witt, author of Jenson Huang's biography 'Thinking Machine', told the BBC, "Jenson Huang is a technological visionary like Steve Jobs."
Referring to the late Apple chief, he said that Huang is credited with creating AI hardware as we know it today.
He described Huang as a "tough" boss who "motivates his employees to work to the limit of their ability."
However, he said the former Nvidia CEO is 'extremely talented' and a 'world-class computer scientist', but he also has 'a certain amount of arrogance' and a 'propensity for self-deception'.
He said Huang had tried hard to present himself as a family man. This thing was 'very important' for him.
Witt said, "He praises his wife and says very nice things about her. The impact of the current controversy would be bad for any family. But for a man who has worked so hard to present himself as a family man and has always kept his children close to him, it is very bad."
Image source, Reuters
The first news was published in the New York Times on October 29. It was said that Huang was in a relationship with a woman named Alice Huang.
This woman has no family relation with him. American officials allege that this businesswoman associated with Singapore-based company Megaspeed works for the Chinese intelligence agency.
After the first affair was revealed, Huang admitted that he had 'unfaithful' to his wife. He also apologized for the trouble caused to his family.
Trump and other AI tech industry leaders initially supported Huang and said he should remain in his post at Nvidia. The President had described him as a 'respectable person'.
But the situation changed after the news of the second affair came to light. This affair was with Kimberly Powell, vice president of the healthcare department at Nvidia.
She has been working in the company for 18 years. After this, the company's board met and then Huang's resignation was announced.
After this news, Trump said that Huang has done a 'fantastic job'. He also suggested the name of Apple's Tim Cook for the post of head of Nvidia.
Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.
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