If Jensen Huang cheated and divorced, could his wife walk away with $62.6 billion?
- Key Points: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's admission of an extramarital affair has triggered a board investigation, with the market fearing that a divorce could lead to a massive division of shares, sending the stock down 4% in after-hours trading and wiping out approximately $180 billion in market cap.
- Key Elements:
- Jensen Huang's net worth exceeds $162.2 billion, with 99% of his wealth derived from Nvidia shares. He has been married to his wife Lori for over 40 years, and Nvidia was founded after their marriage.
- Under California's community property law, absent a prenuptial agreement, Lori could theoretically be entitled to approximately 335 million shares worth about $62.6 billion, which would make it the second-largest divorce case in history.
- Jensen Huang directly holds only about 70.1 million shares, with the remainder held primarily through the couple's living trust and six LLCs, totaling approximately 671 million shares entering the theoretical division pool.
- Another approximately 140 million shares (worth over $26.2 billion) are held through two irrevocable trusts, with beneficiaries suspected to be their children, and are highly unlikely to be divided in a divorce.
- Courts typically avoid forcing the splitting of stock and tend to favor cash or real estate compensation, making a large-scale stock sell-off unlikely.
Original | Odaily@OdailyChina)
Author | Golem (@web3_golem)
On November 8, NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang acknowledged an extramarital affair in an internal letter sent to all employees, and apologized to his wife, family, and company employees: "I owe my family and all of you 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."
On the same day, the NVIDIA board of directors announced the launch of an independent investigation into Jensen Huang, led by a special committee composed of independent directors, and engaged external independent legal counsel to review the matter.
The board stated that there is currently no reason to believe that U.S. national security or NVIDIA's core trade secrets have been compromised, and expressed continued trust in Jensen Huang and his management team. John Rizzo, NVIDIA's head of public policy communications, confirmed that this incident will not affect the company's operations, and that Jensen Huang will continue to serve as CEO and lead the company normally. However, the market still reacted sharply. According to MSX.COM data, NVIDIA fell 4% in after-hours trading, with approximately $180 billion in market value wiped out.
Jensen Huang and his mistress (Source: Internet)
Beyond concerns that the scandal could affect company operations, the decline may also reflect investors trading ahead of expectations for a Huang divorce.
According to Forbes' real-time wealth rankings as of November 8, Jensen Huang's net worth exceeds $162.2 billion, ranking eighth in the world, with 99% of his wealth derived from NVIDIA shares. Jensen Huang and his wife Lori Huang have been married for over 40 years, but NVIDIA was founded after their marriage. This means that if Jensen Huang ultimately does divorce his wife, under California law, Lori Huang could receive at least NVIDIA shares worth more than $62.5 billion—which would become the second-largest divorce settlement in history, after Bill and Melinda Gates.
Jensen Huang's Assets: $151.5 Billion in NVIDIA Shares and 3 U.S. Properties
According to the Form 4 Jensen Huang filed on September 18, 2026, he holds a total of 811,521,160 NVIDIA shares, representing approximately 3.37% of the company, worth approximately $151.5 billion (calculated based on NVDA's closing price of $186.64 on November 7).
Of these, Jensen Huang directly holds 70,100,666 shares personally, worth approximately $13 billion; the Jen-Hsun & Lori Huang Living Trust holds 467,693,547 shares, worth $87.29 billion; the Huang Irrevocable Remainder Trust holds 109,040,602 shares, worth $20.35 billion; the Huang 2012 Irrevocable Trust holds 31,421,011 shares, worth $5.86 billion; and six TARG LLCs collectively hold 133,265,334 shares, worth approximately $24.87 billion, wholly owned by the Jen-Hsun & Lori Huang Living Trust.
The breakdown is as follows. Jensen Huang directly holds 70,100,666 shares personally, worth approximately $13 billion; the Jen-Hsun & Lori Huang Living Trust (u/a/d May 1, 1995) holds 467,693,547 shares, worth $87.29 billion; the Huang Irrevocable Remainder Trust (u/a/d February 19, 2016) holds 109,040,602 shares, worth $20.35 billion; the Huang 2012 Irrevocable Trust holds 31,421,011 shares, worth $5.86 billion; and six TARG LLCs collectively hold 133,265,334 shares, worth approximately $24.87 billion, each held with the Living Trust as sole member. In the same Form 4, the Living Trust also gifted 438,000 shares on September 17, of which 292,000 shares went to The Jen-Hsun & Lori Huang Foundation and 146,000 shares went to a donor-advised fund—these are no longer part of the subsequent division pool.
In addition, according to public reports, Jensen Huang and his wife also own 3 properties, with current fair value estimated at approximately $70 million to $95 million; their primary residence is a home in Los Altos Hills, California, purchased in 2003 for $6.9 million, currently estimated at approximately $15 million to $25 million in fair value.
Los Altos Hills residence (fair value estimated at approximately $15 million–$25 million)
In 2004, Jensen Huang also purchased a gated beachfront villa in Wailea, Maui, for $7.5 million, currently estimated at approximately $15 million to $30 million in fair value.
Wailea, Maui beachfront villa (fair value estimated at approximately $15 million–$30 million)
Around 2017, Jensen Huang purchased an 11,400-square-foot mansion in San Francisco's Gold Coast through an LLC for approximately $38 million, currently estimated at approximately $40 million in fair value.
San Francisco Gold Coast residence (fair value estimated at approximately $40 million)
How Will Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in Assets Be Divided?
Jensen Huang and his current wife Lori Huang (née Mills) married in 1985, about 41 years ago, and have a son and a daughter (Madison and Spencer, both employed at NVIDIA). They primarily reside in California, and NVIDIA's headquarters is also in Santa Clara, California. If they divorce, it would most likely be handled in California, subject to California's community property system.
Jensen Huang and his family
California is a typical community property state in the U.S. Under Section 770 of the Family Code, property acquired during marriage is generally community property and is divided equally (50/50) upon divorce, while premarital property, gifts, and inheritances are separate property. In addition, California practices no-fault divorce, and the extramarital affair itself does not affect the property division ratio.
However, if Jensen Huang used community property during the marriage to purchase gifts for the extramarital partner, pay large expenses, or conceal community property through asset transfers, then under California's Family Code, the court may award the other party 50% or 100% of the relevant assets depending on the severity.
NVIDIA was founded in 1993, after the two married. Under California's community property system, if the two have not signed a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement, the founder shares Jensen Huang acquired during the marriage and held in his personal name would in principle be deemed community property.
However, the 811,521,160 shares under Jensen Huang's name represent direct and indirect beneficial ownership disclosure within the meaning of SEC securities law, and do not equal shares that Jensen Huang can freely dispose of personally, let alone community property that can be directly split in half upon divorce.
According to the statistics above, Jensen Huang directly holds only about 70.1 million NVIDIA shares. Most of the remaining shares are held in the living trust jointly owned by him and his wife, as well as six limited liability companies (LLCs) under that trust, which will return shares to the trust over time. California's community property system provides that property transferred by spouses into a revocable trust retains its community property character during the marriage.
Therefore, under the premise that these four assumptions hold simultaneously—assuming divorce, assuming no property agreement, assuming all these shares are deemed community property, and assuming equal division—what enters the division pool is the 671 million NVIDIA shares held in aggregate by Jensen Huang's personal direct holdings, the Living Trust, and the six TARG LLCs, worth approximately $125.2 billion. Lori Huang could theoretically receive half, approximately 335 million shares worth about $62.6 billion.
Jensen Huang also holds approximately 140 million NVIDIA shares through two irrevocable trusts, and the property treatment of these two irrevocable trusts is far more complex than that of revocable trusts and LLCs.
Both Jensen Huang and Lori Huang are co-trustees of these two trusts, and the specific list of beneficiaries has not been disclosed in public information. However, according to foreign media reports, the main purpose of these two trusts, established in 2012 and 2016 respectively, was to transfer future appreciation of NVIDIA shares out of the couple's estate tax scope and pass it to the next generation. The ultimate beneficiaries are most likely Spencer Huang and Madison Huang.
Therefore, this portion of NVIDIA shares worth more than $26.2 billion is highly unlikely to be divided due to divorce, and Lori Huang is unlikely to directly receive half the shares. However, if divorced, she could still assert rights to future distributions or appreciation of the trusts.
At the same time, given the enormous number of shares Jensen Huang holds and the voting rights involved, courts rarely adopt a forced "physical split" of shares and transfer them to the wife. They typically recommend compensating one party with other assets (cash, real estate, etc.), or establishing a constructive trust under which one party holds the other's entitled shares on their behalf and distributes the proceeds upon sale, so there would not be large-scale stock selling.
Of course, the above property division is merely an analysis based on public information and general California legal principles. It is not legal advice, nor is it an actual outcome. As for where this marriage will ultimately go, it is currently unknown.
