How far is a corporate leader’s private life a personal matter? From responsibility to family to corporate trust and social accountability
Two executives leading world-class companies: Jensen Huang of Nvidia and Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group. The controversies over their extramarital relationships go beyond personal privacy and raise a shared question about corporate leadership and social responsibility.
The controversy over Jensen Huang’s extramarital relationship reported in November 2026 and Chairman Chey Tae-won’s extramarital relationship and divorce litigation unfolded in very different environments.
Yet the core issue running through both cases is the same. How far is a corporate leader’s personal conduct a personal matter, and what responsibility must the leader bear for the consequences of that conduct?
1. Ethics Begins in the Personal Sphere
The starting point of ethics is keeping one’s promises to others.
Marriage is a legal contract and, at the same time, a human relationship built on trust. An extramarital relationship can inflict emotional wounds on a spouse and children, and it also affects the trust a family has built over many years.
The ability to run a company successfully and the ability to keep faith within a family are separate matters.
2. Jensen Huang: A Personal Controversy Widens into a Question of Corporate Trust
Jensen Huang is the executive who placed Nvidia at the center of the artificial intelligence chip industry.
What deserves attention in this controversy is not only the apology to his family but also the questions of corporate trust and security.
The independent investigation by Nvidia’s board and the related security concerns raised in the reporting invite a closer look at the boundary between personal matters and corporate management.
However, the allegations of involvement in Chinese intelligence activity concerning the woman involved must not be treated as established fact.
For the CEO of a global technology company, personal trust, corporate security and the trust of stakeholders can be linked to one another.
3. Chey Tae-won: A Personal Affair Leads to Questions of Family, Property and Corporate Governance
Chairman Chey Tae-won publicly acknowledged his extramarital relationship and the existence of a child born out of wedlock in 2015.
The subsequent divorce and property division lawsuit between Chey Tae-won and Roh So-young sparked intense debate in Korean society.
In particular, the Supreme Court’s 2025 decision to remand the property division ruling showed how complex the legal issues surrounding marriage, the formation of assets and property division are.
The ethical assessment of an extramarital relationship and the legal judgment on property division are not the same question.
In Chairman Chey’s case, the stage of accountability expanded to family, the courts, property division and, finally, the structural problem of governance at Korean chaebol.
4. The Difference Between the Two Lies in the Stage of Accountability
In Jensen Huang’s case, the central question is how the personal controversy of the CEO of a global technology company affects the company’s security and reputation.
In Chairman Chey’s case, the main issue is the relationship among changes in family relations, legal disputes, property division and corporate governance.
Rather than simply comparing who is more at fault, it is more important to examine what responsibilities arose in each case and how those responsibilities became matters of public debate.
5. A Company’s True Value Comes from Trust
A company’s competitiveness is not determined by revenue, operating profit and market share alone.
Investors must trust management, employees must believe in the organization’s leadership, and customers must expect the company to keep its promises.
Corporate governance and the responsibility of management are important standards when discussing a company’s sustainability and investor trust.
A public apology may be the beginning of accountability, but it does not mean accountability is complete.
True restoration of trust is proven by actions taken after the apology.
A Trusted Executive Matters More Than a Successful One
The cases of Jensen Huang and Chairman Chey Tae-won show that the responsibility demanded of corporate leaders is not simple.
Success can be measured by the size of a company, but trust is proven by the conduct of the person who leads it.
Editor’s note: This column analyzes ethics and corporate responsibility on the basis of publicly reported events and legal proceedings. It does not treat unverified allegations about private life as fact.