“My actions have hurt her and our children. There are no excuses for what I have done,” Huang said in a memo to Nvidia employees, admitting to the affair.
The board said in a statement that it would appoint a committee of independent reviewers, working with outside counsel, to oversee the investigation.
The investigators are tasked with determining whether the chip magnate “has been the subject of a foreign intelligence operation.”
“The board has no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia’s trade secrets were compromised, but the review will evaluate all available information,” the statement added.
Huang, who has previously denied having anything more than a “normal” relationship with the woman, said he was cooperating fully with the investigation. He will continue in his role as CEO while the investigation is ongoing.
The announcement of the investigation comes after the Financial Times and The New York Times, among others, reported, citing sources, that Huang had been in contact with a woman who led one of the IT giant’s clients and whom American security services, according to the newspapers, believe to be a Chinese spy.
The American chipmaker Nvidia is one of the world’s most highly valued listed companies.
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