Jensen Huang Hired a PR Firm Known for Handling Sex Scandals Last Year

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang was working with a crisis communications firm that specializes in rehabilitating the reputations of powerful men well before he publicly acknowledged an extramarital affair. Two people familiar with the matter told WIRED that consultants from Heller have handled Huang's behind-the-scenes communications since at least October 2025 — the same month the New York Times published a detailed report on his business and personal ties to a woman that US intelligence officials have since determined works as a Chinese government spy.

People familiar with the arrangement said Heller's consultants were initially understood to be engaged on matters connected to Huang's personal life, including his family's philanthropic endeavors. The firm communicated frequently with Huang and with his daughter Madison, a product marketing director at Nvidia who has become an increasingly prominent figure inside the company, the sources said. It is not clear whether that early work covered the relationship Huang later admitted to.

The timing is what draws scrutiny. Huang began appearing in public in 2024 with Alice Huang, a former executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based chip buyer that was created in 2023 when it split off from a Chinese gaming and cloud computing firm — just months after the US government started restricting exports of advanced semiconductors to China. A Megaspeed subsidiary later became a major buyer of Nvidia chips. In early October 2025, the Times reported that the Commerce Department was investigating whether Megaspeed was helping Chinese firms evade American export controls through its subsidiaries. People familiar with Nvidia said the story rankled Huang and raised tensions among senior leaders; by the end of that month, internal communications teams had been instructed to include Heller in any press inquiry about Huang, whether personal or professional.

Huang's public posture shifted on Sunday. Nvidia had initially characterized his interactions with Alice as routine business with clients, but he then told staff by email that the relationship was romantic. "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," he wrote, adding that he owed an apology to employees and his family. Nvidia's board announced an independent investigation into his activities, saying it had no reason to believe national security or confidential Nvidia information was compromised.

Several questions remain open. It is still unknown whether Heller's earliest work with the Huang family touched on the affair, what the board's investigation will establish, and how Nvidia navigates continuing export-control scrutiny of Megaspeed while its chief executive is under a personal and governance cloud.