Nvidia hires prosecutor Joon Kim to probe Jensen Huang spy allegations

Nvidia said Tuesday it retained Joon Kim, 55, and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to run a “thorough and independent investigation” into allegations that its then-CEO Jensen Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort involving his affair with Alice Huang. U.S. intelligence suspects Alice Huang of spying for China. Jensen Huang resigned Thursday morning, right after a New York Times report that he had also had an affair with Nvidia executive Kimberly Powell, who reports to him.

That fresh allegation could get folded into Kim’s docket. Nvidia did not immediately respond when asked whether the new claim would change the parameters of the investigation, and a Wachtell, Lipton spokeswoman declined to comment on behalf of the firm and Kim.

Kim brings a long paper trail of high-profile cases. The son of a South Korean diplomat, born in Los Angeles and educated at Phillips Exeter, Stanford and Harvard Law, he spent seven years as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York — four of them in the Organized Crime and Terrorism Unit. He won a conviction against Peter Gotti, then head of the Gambino crime family, for conspiring to kill mob turncoat Salvatore “Sammy the Bull” Gravano, though prosecutions of Peter’s nephew John Gotti Jr. ended in hung juries. He later served as deputy U.S. attorney and then as U.S. attorney from 2017 to 2018, taking over after President Donald Trump fired Preet Bharara.

His private-practice résumé runs through Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton across three stints before he recently joined Wachtell, Lipton’s litigation department. In March 2021, New York Attorney General Letitia James tapped him and attorney Anne Clark to investigate then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo; their August 2021 report — built on 179 witness interviews and tens of thousands of documents — concluded Cuomo sexually harassed at least 11 women and retaliated against a former employee who complained. Cuomo resigned a week after it went public. Two years later, the FDIC hired Kim for an independent review of harassment and misconduct at the agency; his April 2024 report found the FDIC had failed to give employees a workplace safe from sexual harassment and discrimination. Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi still calls Kim a “hired hack” who hid exonerating evidence.

Wachtell, Lipton is no stranger to messy, headline-grabbing probes either: this year it investigated the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers and billionaire owner Steve Ballmer, an inquiry that ended with the league hitting both with stiff sanctions over salary cap violations tied to superstar Kawhi Leonard. People who know Kim say Nvidia picked well. “I think he’s the ideal person for this role,” said Edward Kim, a white-collar defense lawyer who worked alongside him at the SDNY and is not related. Chris Conniff, another SDNY alum and close friend, called him “incredibly smart,” adding, “he’s known by everyone in the business as just an outstanding investigator, leaves no stone unturned.”