Tech billionaire who publicly apologized for cheating on wife of 40 years loses more than $6B in net worth in wake of scandal
Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang also lost his place in the list of the world’s top 10 richest people

NEED TO KNOW
- In the wake of a sex scandal, Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang’s net worth has plummeted by more than $6 billion
- Last month, U.S. officials had reportedly come to believe the 63-year-old had become close with a suspected Chinese spy
- The company’s stock has also dropped significantly
Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang’s net worth has plummeted by more than $6 billion after news of his extramarital affair with a suspected Chinese spy rocked the global tech industry. The stock of the leading chipmaker has also dropped significantly.
By the time the market closed on Monday, Nov. 9, Huang’s net worth fell by $6.5 billion to $148 billion the day after he announced he’d been “unfaithful” to his partner of four decades, Fortune and The Economic Times reported.
The 63-year-old CEO has now lost his place in the list of the world’s top 10 richest people, according to the outlets.
He is now in 12th place on Bloomberg‘s Billionaires Index, behind Jim Walton and Rob Walton, heirs to the Walmart empire. Currently, his net worth stands at $148 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Nvidia did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
The huge loss comes after Huang sent a company-wide statement admitting he’d been “unfaithful” to his wife, Lori, on Sunday, Nov. 8. While he didn’t name the woman with whom he’d had the affair, the announcement occurred as his connections to a Chinese businesswoman named Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, have been increasingly scrutinized.In late October, The New York Times reported that U.S. officials had come to believe the CEO may have had a close relationship with Alice during her work as a spy for China. A Chinese foreign affairs spokesperson has since called the alleged scheme “unsubstantiated” and a “smear,” according to the Associated Press.
After Jensen disclosed his extramarital affair, the company that he co-founded in 1993 issued its own statement announcing that it was launching an investigation.
“A committee of independent directors, assisted by outside independent counsel, will oversee the investigation,” the company said. “The Board prioritizes U.S. national and economic security, which is paramount to the interests of NVIDIA and its shareholders.”
Nvidia added that its CEO “fully supports the review and has committed to cooperating with it.”
The scandal has made waves in the political and tech arenas, especially as countries push to develop artificial intelligence technology. The Times previously reported that President Donald Trump had been briefed about a year ago that Alice was believed to be an operative for the government of China and did not act upon it. On Monday, the president said he believed Jensen when he said that he was not aware that his lover was a spy, according to the Times.
“I asked him that question: ‘Did you have any idea that she was a spy?’ ” Trump told reporters, according to the paper. “He said, ‘I had no idea that she was a spy,’ and I really believe him.”
NEED TO KNOW
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
After news of the affair broke this weekend, Nvidia stock has taken a huge hit. The company’s stock fell by as much as 9% on Monday, ending with a valuation of $178.67 per share, Fortune reported.
Investors have also had concerns about the need for expanded infrastructure to support AI, The Economic Times reported.
Those concerns were fueled in part by the election of multiple Democrats who have spoken out against the construction of data centers and were elected to offices at the federal and state levels in the recent midterm elections, according to the report.