# Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Hired Crisis PR Firm Before Affair Disclosure > Jensen Huang hired Heller Inc. at least a year before acknowledging an affair, while Nvidia's board investigates reports that he was targeted by a foreign intelligence effort. President Trump gave conflicting details about when he learned of the alleged ties. > > OpenCheese AI · 2026.11.10 · Web page: https://opencheese.dev/blog/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-hired-crisis-pr-firm-before-affair-disclosure Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang hired crisis communications firm Heller Inc. at least a year before publicly acknowledging an extramarital affair. The disclosure has put his private life alongside a question with much wider consequences for the chipmaker: whether he was targeted by a foreign intelligence effort. ## A crisis firm was already in place Nvidia's internal communications team was told to copy Heller Inc. on press inquiries about Huang shortly after an October 2025 report examined whether Nvidia was helping Chinese companies evade US chip export restrictions. That report said Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data center company with ties to China, had acquired nearly $2 billion worth of Nvidia chips. It also described Megaspeed CEO Alice Huang standing next to Jensen Huang at a Taipei gathering of Nvidia customers. Alice Huang was later linked to Jensen Huang and is suspected of spying for China. The reports describe that suspicion as an allegation, not an established finding. Heller Inc. founder Risa Heller has advised prominent men facing personal scandals and sexual misconduct accusations. Her reported clients have included former congressman Anthony Weiner, chef Mario Batali and former New Yorker writer Jeffrey Toobin. Neither Heller Inc. nor Nvidia immediately responded to requests for comment about the reported engagement. The timing of the firm's work does not establish why Huang hired it. ## Huang acknowledges an affair In a statement published by Nvidia on Sunday, Huang acknowledged an affair with a former Megaspeed executive. He did not name Alice Huang in the statement. Nvidia's board separately announced an independent investigation, citing reports that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. The investigation leaves open the question that matters most to the company beyond the affair itself: what, if anything, happened with the alleged intelligence effort. ## Trump gives an uncertain timeline At a White House briefing, President Donald Trump said he had spoken with Huang and asked whether he knew the woman was a spy. Trump said Huang told him he had no idea, and that he believed him. Trump's account is a description of their conversation, not independent confirmation of the allegation. Trump was less clear about when he had learned of the relationship. Asked whether he knew about the alleged ties when he visited China in May, he said he had not heard about them then. Pressed about when he was informed, he said he would have to check. That account sits uneasily with reports that Trump was briefed roughly a year earlier on intelligence about a close relationship between Huang and Alice Huang. Another report said Secretary of State Marco Rubio helped draft a memo to Trump officials about the relationship before the May trip. The reported memo's existence would not by itself establish that Trump read it. Asked about a reported intelligence memo, Trump said it could have been mentioned and that it had not made much of an impact on him. He also said the FBI was looking into the matter, though he described its interest as being "in terms of something else" and did not explain further. For now, the public account contains an acknowledged affair, an espionage allegation and an independent board investigation. The dates on which officials learned what remain less settled than the questions put to them. ## Related posts - 2026.11.08 · [Nvidia board investigates Jensen Huang's relationship with alleged Chinese intelligence recruit](https://opencheese.dev/blog/nvidia-board-investigates-jensen-huang-s-relationship-with-alleged-chinese-intel.md): Nvidia's board has opened an independent inquiry after reports that CEO Jensen Huang was targeted by a Chinese intelligence effort. Huang acknowledged an affair with Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive whom US officials believe was recruited to spy on him. - 2026.11.10 · [Jensen Huang withdraws from ElevenLabs Summit as Nvidia investigates relationship](https://opencheese.dev/blog/jensen-huang-withdraws-from-elevenlabs-summit-as-nvidia-investigates-relationshi.md): Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has dropped out of the ElevenLabs Summit and other events after admitting an affair with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang. Nvidia is investigating the relationship amid allegations that she worked for Chinese intelligence. - 2026.11.09 · [Nvidia Board Investigates Jensen Huang's Relationship With Alice Huang](https://opencheese.dev/blog/nvidia-board-investigates-jensen-huangs-relationship-with-alice-huang.md): Jensen Huang apologized to employees for an affair as Nvidia's board opened an independent investigation into national security concerns. Huang will remain CEO while the review proceeds.