Nvidia has spared no expense this time in investigating Jensen Huang.
The board has officially brought in Joon H. Kim, former acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Wachtell, one of Wall Street’s top law firms.
Both are formidable.
Kim previously oversaw around 220 federal prosecutors and handled major cases involving the Mafia, financial crimes, and economic espionage. He also took part in the sexual harassment investigation into former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, which ultimately led to Cuomo’s resignation.
Wachtell is one of the top corporate law firms in the United States. It represented Twitter in its lawsuit that forced Elon Musk to complete his $44 billion acquisition, and also investigated an NBA team owner over salary cap violations.
Nvidia has its reasons for spending so much to bring them on board.
Huang’s extramarital affair has drawn the FBI’s attention and prompted pressure from Congress, and Nvidia has even been sued by shareholders.
Nvidia needs an authoritative, independent investigation to show the U.S. government, Wall Street, and its shareholders that the company isn’t protecting Huang just because he’s its founder.
The company is trying to separate Huang’s personal crisis from risks to its business as much as possible.
I think the ideal outcome would be to establish that there was no serious misconduct, allowing Huang to remain CEO while the company’s business in China and its valuation are no longer dragged down by this scandal.
If the investigation does uncover issues involving national security or conflicts of commercial interest, its findings could also give the board grounds to hold Huang accountable or even replace him.
So bringing in such high-profile investigative lawyers could either help Mr. Huang weather the crisis—or determine the course of his career.
The board has officially brought in Joon H. Kim, former acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Wachtell, one of Wall Street’s top law firms.
Both are formidable.
Kim previously oversaw around 220 federal prosecutors and handled major cases involving the Mafia, financial crimes, and economic espionage. He also took part in the sexual harassment investigation into former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, which ultimately led to Cuomo’s resignation.
Wachtell is one of the top corporate law firms in the United States. It represented Twitter in its lawsuit that forced Elon Musk to complete his $44 billion acquisition, and also investigated an NBA team owner over salary cap violations.
Nvidia has its reasons for spending so much to bring them on board.
Huang’s extramarital affair has drawn the FBI’s attention and prompted pressure from Congress, and Nvidia has even been sued by shareholders.
Nvidia needs an authoritative, independent investigation to show the U.S. government, Wall Street, and its shareholders that the company isn’t protecting Huang just because he’s its founder.
The company is trying to separate Huang’s personal crisis from risks to its business as much as possible.
I think the ideal outcome would be to establish that there was no serious misconduct, allowing Huang to remain CEO while the company’s business in China and its valuation are no longer dragged down by this scandal.
If the investigation does uncover issues involving national security or conflicts of commercial interest, its findings could also give the board grounds to hold Huang accountable or even replace him.
So bringing in such high-profile investigative lawyers could either help Mr. Huang weather the crisis—or determine the course of his career.
