A warning about ‘Jensen Huang’s affair’ drew nothing but criticism... The short-selling report reassessed six months later

[Financial News] A 31-year-old short seller who warned six months ago about an affair between NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy—and was even mocked for it—is now belatedly being reevaluated.
According to the U.S. dailies The New York Times (NYT) and The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on the 11th (local time), Christian LaMarco, founder of New York short-selling firm Culper Research, released a 40-page report on May 13 raising questions about NVIDIA’s China business. The report also pointed to an “uncomfortably close relationship” between Huang and Alice Huang, who was an executive at data center company Megaspeed.
LaMarco said he began investigating after the NYT and others reported last year that the two had mingled with executives from other technology companies in Asia. He later concluded that it was difficult to find problems at NVIDIA and halted the investigation for a while, before resuming it in March. This was because people associated with U.S. server manufacturer Super Micro Computer, Inc. (Supermicro) had been indicted on charges of violating export controls by smuggling NVIDIA semiconductors into China.
LaMarco eventually released the report after contacting current and former employees of NVIDIA and Megaspeed and analyzing corporate disclosures and footage filmed in Taiwan, among other materials, but the market showed little interest at the time. NVIDIA’s share price actually rose on the day the report was released, and hit a record high the following day. LaMarco received nothing but messages disparaging him and warning him to be careful.
But the situation changed recently when CEO Huang acknowledged having an affair with Alice Huang, who is suspected of having ties to Chinese intelligence agencies. The report spread rapidly online, and LaMarco’s related posts garnered millions of views.
LaMarco told the NYT, “Everyone mocked us, but now everyone is praising us.” He also told the WSJ, “Sometimes people pay attention to what you say, and sometimes they don’t,” adding, “This time, it seems they only took an interest after six months.”
[email protected] Hong Chae-wan Reporter