By Amara Osei

Nvidia’s independent directors hired Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz on Tuesday to examine whether CEO Jensen Huang had been the “target of a foreign intelligence effort.” Joon H. Kim, a partner in the New York firm’s litigation department and former acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, will lead the inquiry, which the board described as thorough and independent.

Kim’s appointment followed the board’s Sunday announcement, which came after Huang admitted an extramarital affair and amid scrutiny of his relationship with Alice Huang. The board said the inquiry would examine the foreign-intelligence allegation against its chief executive.

At the center of the case is Alice Huang, whom The New York Times reported last month U.S. intelligence officials believed was acting as a spy for the Chinese government. The board has not announced any findings from the review.

What is Nvidia investigating?

The board’s stated focus shifts attention from the private affair to the national-security implications of Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang. Its choice of outside counsel and a former federal prosecutor indicates a formal, independent review rather than an internal management assessment.

Why did the board choose Wachtell?

Wachtell, a corporate law powerhouse founded in 1965, advises major companies and boards on mergers, corporate governance, shareholder fights and other high-stakes matters. The firm describes its reach this way: “We handle some of the largest, most complex and demanding transactions in the United States and around the world.”

One of its founding partners, Martin Lipton, developed the poison pill defense, a strategy that boards use to resist hostile takeovers.

• In 2022, Wachtell represented Twitter when it sued Elon Musk, forcing him to complete the $44 billion acquisition of the company.
• The NBA hired Wachtell in 2021 to investigate workplace misconduct allegations against Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver. Sarver received a one-year suspension and a $10 million fine.
• The NBA again hired Wachtell to examine whether the Los Angeles Clippers and player Kawhi Leonard violated salary-cap circumvention rules designed to prevent teams from evading spending limits. In September, the NBA fined the Clippers $30 million and suspended owner Steve Ballmer for one year, citing the investigation.

What qualifies Kim to lead the inquiry?

Kim joined Wachtell last month as a partner in the litigation department after nearly a decade at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. His biography lists high-stakes litigation and enforcement, including internal investigations, white-collar criminal and regulatory defense, commercial litigation, arbitration and crisis management.

The same biography says he counsels companies, boards, government agencies and executives on their most significant litigation, enforcement and investigative matters.

Kim served as acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2017 to 2018. He oversaw more than 220 assistant U.S. attorneys handling criminal and civil cases involving fraud, public and private corruption, money laundering and economic espionage.

From 2000 to 2006, Kim served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the same district, where he investigated and prosecuted an array of crimes. His work helped secure convictions against high-ranking organized-crime figures, including Peter Gotti, brother of mob boss John Gotti.

In 2021, New York Attorney General Letitia James appointed Kim to co-lead an independent investigation into sexual harassment allegations against then-governor Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo resigned after the investigation concluded that he sexually harassed multiple women.

What does the appointment mean for Nvidia?

The pairing combines a corporate-governance firm with recent experience examining major institutions and a partner whose record spans internal investigations, enforcement and sensitive government matters. For Nvidia’s independent directors, that record offers relevant procedural experience while keeping the inquiry outside the company’s management structure.

Kim’s work on economic espionage, corruption and the Cuomo inquiry overlaps directly with the board’s stated foreign-intelligence question. The appointment therefore links three capabilities: independent oversight, regulatory and enforcement judgment, and experience handling allegations that carry legal, governmental and reputational consequences.

The investigation has not established whether any foreign government targeted Huang; the board has only defined the question and appointed investigators. The immediate stakes are the independence of the review, the credibility of Kim’s prior experience and whether the findings can address both corporate-governance duties and national-security risk.