What I’m Seeing
The major arts institution named for Jensen Huang and his wife, Lori, appears to be—shocker!—very much in jeopardy.
Just months ago, Huang was getting a phone call from President Trump while onstage at the All-In Summit in Los Angeles. “I’m here with the besties, Mr. President,” a laughing Huang said, putting his phone up to the mic. “Tell him I say hi!” said All-In cohost Jason Calacanis.
But Huang’s recent weeks have not been marked by good times with the besties. First, the Democrats took over Congress, throttling all the goodwill he built with the administration. Then he admitted to having an extramarital affair with a woman suspected by the US to be a Chinese spy—and then news of another affair, this time allegedly with a subordinate, came via a shocking New York Times bombshell. Amid rumors that yet another affair would soon break, he stepped down as CEO and, according to Forbes, has watched nearly $20 billion of his estimated net worth vaporize since Monday.
What’s unknown is the current state of his relationship with his wife, Lori Huang—and their ambitious plans for an arts organization that was set to bear their name. Earlier this year, the Huangs pledged $75 million to Vanderbilt University in order to help transform the soon-to-be-closed legendary San Francisco art school California College of the Arts into part of Vanderbilt’s SF campus. Vanderbilt announced that it planned to name a portion of its SF campus the Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang College of Art, Architecture and Design.
Which is now a bit awkward, given the multiple alleged affairs, and the whole Chinese-spy thing. Plus, Huang is no longer affiliated with Nvidia, which teamed up with CCA in 2025 to form the CCA-Nvidia Incubator for Creative Intelligence. Will Jensen and Lori Huang still put their names together on arts organizations after all that’s happened? And if there is no Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang College of Art, Architecture and Design, what will happen to Vanderbilt’s SF campus when it opens next year?
The CCA was started in 1907, and Huang and his wife were expected to support its transition to a new chapter. It would be a shame if this is how it ends. Reps at Vanderbilt didn’t get back to me.