Jensen Huang was reportedly working with Heller, a crisis-communications firm founded by Risa Heller, by at least October 2025, according to two people familiar with the matter. That engagement preceded Huang’s public acknowledgment that he had been unfaithful to his wife.
Risa Heller built her firm’s reputation handling reputational emergencies for powerful figures. Past clients have included Anthony Weiner, Mario Batali, and Jeffrey Toobin, according to a New York Magazine profile. The firm also handles conventional corporate communications work.
What the Firm Was Initially Doing
Heller’s early work reportedly centered on personal and philanthropic matters rather than any specific corporate controversy.
The firm’s initial scope reportedly covered Huang’s personal life and family philanthropic activities. Sources told WIRED that Heller communicated with both Huang and his daughter Madison, an Nvidia product-marketing director who has taken on greater prominence within the company.
The October 2025 Turning Point
After the New York Times reported on Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang and Megaspeed’s business dealings, Heller’s role was reportedly brought into Nvidia’s formal press process.
The firm’s role was reportedly brought more formally into Nvidia’s communications process after the Times published that report. Nvidia’s internal communications teams were instructed to include Heller on press inquiries involving Huang, whether personal or professional.
Who Alice Huang Is
Alice Huang held a senior role at a Singapore-based chip company before Huang publicly acknowledged an affair.
Alice Huang previously held a senior role at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company connected to the purchase and distribution of Nvidia chips. Huang initially described their interactions as routine business dealings, then later sent a message to Nvidia employees acknowledging infidelity and apologizing to his family and staff.
The Intelligence Allegation
The claim that Alice Huang worked for the Chinese government is attributed to US intelligence officials and has not been adjudicated in court.
US intelligence officials reportedly concluded that Alice Huang was working for the Chinese government. That conclusion has not been proven in court, and China has rejected the allegations as baseless, a characterization attributed to Chinese officials.
Megaspeed’s Separate Exposure
Megaspeed faces a distinct set of questions about whether its subsidiaries may have helped route Nvidia chips in ways that circumvented US export restrictions.
Megaspeed faces scrutiny over whether its subsidiaries helped route Nvidia chips to Chinese companies, possibly circumventing US export restrictions. Megaspeed has denied what it described as misleading allegations and said its current leadership was working to establish the facts.
What the Board Has Said So Far
Nvidia’s board announced an independent inquiry but has not issued a final determination on any of the underlying questions.
Nvidia’s board announced an independent inquiry into Huang’s activities. It stated it had no reason to believe that national-security information or Nvidia’s confidential information had been compromised. That statement reflects an interim board position, not a final finding.
Nvidia and Heller Decline to Comment
Neither party addressed WIRED’s questions about the nature or scope of the engagement.
Nvidia did not respond to WIRED’s requests for comment on the Heller engagement. Heller referred questions from WIRED back to Nvidia.
A Shared Political Background and Open Questions
Risa Heller and Nvidia’s top public-policy communications executive both previously worked for former Senator Chuck Schumer, though no reporting establishes that the connection influenced the engagement.
Risa Heller and Nvidia’s head of public-policy communications, John Rizzo, both previously worked for former Senator Chuck Schumer. Whether that shared background played any role in the engagement is not established by available reporting.
Several material questions remain unanswered. It is not publicly confirmed whether Heller was retained by Huang personally, by Nvidia, or by a family-associated entity. The question of whether Nvidia’s disclosure and related-party policies apply to the arrangement was not addressed in the reporting reviewed. Those questions remain part of a broader accounting that the board’s investigation has yet to resolve.
