Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang brought on the public relations firm founded by Risa Heller last year, a consultancy that WIRED reports has built its reputation on representing powerful men facing allegations of sexual misconduct and other personal controversies. The arrangement, detailed in a report published Monday, means the Huang PR firm was already in place well before the Nvidia CEO admitted in an email to employees on Sunday that he had been unfaithful to his wife.
Nvidia’s board of directors has since announced an independent investigation into Huang’s activities.
Who Risa Heller Has Represented
Heller’s reputation as a fixer for high-profile men in trouble was documented in a 2023 New York magazine profile, according to WIRED. Her past clients and people who have sought her advice include former congressman Anthony Weiner, chef Mario Batali and writer Jeffrey Toobin.
The firm’s work is not limited to personal crises. Heller also handles corporate communications and issues unrelated to personal controversies for clients, WIRED reported.
Heller’s career began in Democratic politics. Before founding her firm, she worked for Jane Harman, then a Democratic congresswoman from California, and later served as Democratic senator Chuck Schumer’s New York City press secretary. Nvidia’s head of public policy communications, John Rizzo, also previously worked for Schumer, serving as his deputy communications director.
How the Huang PR Firm Became a Gatekeeper at Nvidia
Heller’s consultants were initially believed to have been hired for matters related to Huang’s personal life, including his family’s philanthropic endeavors, according to people familiar with the arrangement who spoke to WIRED. The firm communicated frequently with Huang and with his daughter Madison, a product marketing director at Nvidia who has become an increasingly prominent figure within the company, sources told the outlet.
It is not clear whether Heller’s early work with the Huang family involved Huang’s affair, WIRED reported.
That changed in the autumn of 2025. By the end of October 2025, Nvidia’s internal communications teams had been instructed to include Heller’s firm on any press inquiries about Huang, whether personal or professional, according to people familiar with the matter. In practice, the Huang PR firm had become part of the chain on questions about the chief executive of one of the most closely watched companies in technology.
Reached by email, a representative for Heller referred WIRED to Nvidia. Nvidia did not immediately respond to the outlet’s requests for comment.
The Megaspeed Connection
The instruction to involve Heller’s firm followed a report in The New York Times in early October 2025 that made public Huang’s business dealings with Megaspeed and his connection to a woman who goes by Alice Huang.
Huang began appearing in public with Alice Huang, a former executive at the Singapore-based chip buyer Megaspeed, in 2024, according to The New York Times. Megaspeed was created when it split off from a Chinese gaming and cloud computing firm in 2023, a few months after the US government began restricting exports of advanced semiconductors to China, including chips developed by Nvidia. A subsidiary of Megaspeed later became a major buyer of Nvidia chips.
The Times report alleged that the US Commerce Department was investigating whether Megaspeed was helping Chinese firms evade US export controls through its subsidiaries. US intelligence officials have determined that Alice, who has no known relation to Jensen Huang, is a spy working for the Chinese government, according to the Times.
The story caused tensions to rise within Nvidia’s top ranks, and Jensen Huang was rankled by it, according to sources who spoke with WIRED.
Huang has been one of the most vocal critics of Washington’s semiconductor restrictions, telling audiences that US export policy has already largely backfired and that Nvidia now has zero percent market share in China.
Huang Apologizes in an Email to Staff
Nvidia initially said that Jensen Huang’s interactions with Alice were part of routine business with clients. On Sunday, Huang acknowledged that the relationship had been romantic in nature. In an email to Nvidia staff, he said he owed employees and his family an apology.
“I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry,” Huang wrote.
Board Opens an Independent Investigation
Nvidia’s board of directors announced it is opening an independent investigation into Jensen Huang’s activities. The board said it has no reason to believe that national security or confidential Nvidia information has been compromised.
The independent investigation is the company’s formal response to a matter that, by WIRED’s account, Nvidia had been managing through outside crisis communications for roughly a year. Huang, who has spoken publicly on everything from tax policy to chip controls and has previously told critics in the billionaire class that paying the highest taxes in the world is fine with him, has not commented publicly beyond the staff email.
WIRED said it is seeking information from current and former Nvidia employees about the matter, directing potential sources to contact its reporters securely on Signal using a nonwork phone or computer.
