Abstract:
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently admitted to having an extramarital affair and was embroiled in controversy related to intelligence activities. As the incident continued to unfold, media investigations found that Huang had hired a public relations firm that specializes in handling public relations crises at least a year ago. The firm has helped several high-profile men deal with sex scandals and reputational crises in the past.
According to an investigative report by WIRED, Huang hired Heller Inc., an American crisis public relations company founded by Risa Heller. Two people familiar with the arrangements revealed that Heller has been involved in Huang’s behind-the-scenes public relations affairs since at least October 2025.
Risa Heller is well-known in the field of crisis public relations. According to a 2023 profile in New York Magazine, she has advised many well-known figures who have been in public opinion crises due to personal scandals or sexual misconduct accusations, including former U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner, celebrity chef Mario Batali, and former New Yorker writer Jeffrey Toobin.
However, Heller's business is not limited to sex scandal crisis management, but also involves corporate public relations, business communications and other personal matters. People familiar with the matter said that the company's initial involvement in Huang's affairs was mainly related to his personal life and family philanthropic activities, including assisting with public relations related to his family. Heller's advisers communicate frequently with Huang and his daughter, Madison. Madison currently also serves as product marketing director at NVIDIA and is gradually taking on a more important role within the company.
It is unclear whether Heller was aware of Huang's extramarital relationship at the initial stage, and there is no evidence that the company hired a public relations team at the time to deal with related incidents that were later exposed.
The report also linked this public relations arrangement to an investigative report by the New York Times in October 2025. At that time, the New York Times disclosed that Megaspeed International, a Singapore-based data center company, had business ties with China and had obtained Nvidia chips worth nearly US$2 billion. The report also published a photo of Megaspeed executive Alice Huang appearing with Jen-Hsun Huang at an Nvidia customer event in Taipei.
This report not only drew attention to Megaspeed chip procurement and export control issues, but also brought the relationship between Huang Renxun and Alice Huang into the public eye. According to people familiar with the matter cited by WIRED, after the relevant reports were published, Nvidia’s internal senior management had a clear reaction to the media reports. By the end of October 2025, Nvidia's internal communications team has received instructions that Heller Inc. should be included in the communication target for any media inquiries involving Huang Renxun's personal or professional affairs.
In other words, Heller at this stage is no longer just an external public relations consultant handling matters related to Huang Renxun's family, but has begun to participate in Nvidia's external response to media inquiries involving the company's CEO.
As recent incidents have come to light, Heller's early intervention time has also attracted more attention. U.S. intelligence agencies reportedly suspect Alice Huang has ties to the Chinese government and believe she may have been recruited to obtain information about Huang and Nvidia. However, these are still U.S. intelligence charges. The relevant evidence has not yet been made public, and it cannot be concluded that Alice Huang has been confirmed to have engaged in espionage.
Huang Renxun has previously described his contact with Alice Huang as normal business dealings, but on November 8, he sent an internal email to Nvidia employees, explicitly admitting for the first time that he had been unfaithful to his wife, and apologized to his wife, children and company employees for this. He said his behavior hurt his family and there was no excuse for it.
Nvidia’s board of directors subsequently announced the launch of an independent investigation to examine whether Huang Jensen was the target of foreign intelligence operations and whether there was a leak of company secrets or national security information. The board said it currently has no reason to believe that Nvidia’s trade secrets or U.S. national security have been compromised.
As of the time of publication, neither company had responded. Heller previously referred inquiries to Nvidia through its representatives.
This disclosure raises a new timeline question: Did Heller provide general family and public relations services to Jen-Hsun Huang before the controversy over his personal relationship arose, or was he already aware of the potential personal reputational risks? Public information currently cannot answer this question.
What is certain is that Heller has been involved in Huang Renxun's public relations affairs at least in October 2025, when the controversies surrounding Megaspeed, Alice Huang, and Nvidia's chip sales to China had just entered the public eye. As for the specific reason why the public relations company was originally hired, and whether it had information about relevant personal relationships in advance, it has not yet been confirmed.
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