Jensen Huang's $140 Billion Stake Held in Joint Trust with Wife... Could Complicate Asset Division

Jensen Huang Placed Most of His Stake in Trusts Co-Managed with His Wife
Lori Huang Shares Voting Rights and Investment Authority
4% of Amazon Shares Transferred in Bezos Divorce
Complex Structure Could Complicate Asset Division

Most of the NVIDIA shares held by former CEO Jensen Huang, who stepped down as the company’s chief executive, are reportedly placed in trusts jointly managed with his wife, Lori Huang. The stake is worth $140 billion (about KRW 190 trillion). Given the large transfer of shares during Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s divorce, questions have been raised about whether a change in the Huangs’ marital status could affect their NVIDIA holdings.

Jensen Huang, former CEO of Nvidia, and his wife, Lori Huang. Reuters-Yonhap News Agency

According to CNBC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Huang beneficially owned a total of 870.6 million NVIDIA shares as of March 23. About 742 million of those shares are held through limited liability companies and other entities linked to trusts jointly managed by the couple. A charitable foundation established by the couple also holds about 58.68 million NVIDIA shares.

Their holdings are managed through the Jensen Huang and Lori Huang Living Trust, two irrevocable trusts, and six limited liability companies. The Living Trust holds about 528.53 million shares, while the two irrevocable trusts hold 31.42 million and 109.04 million shares, respectively.

Lori Huang also heads the Jensen Huang and Lori Huang Foundation, a charitable foundation established by the couple. The foundation had assets of about $9.2 billion at the end of 2024.

Huang’s shareholdings have drawn attention because a change in the couple’s marital status could potentially alter how their NVIDIA shares are owned and managed. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, for example, transferred a large stake in Amazon when he divorced his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, in 2019.

At the time, the Bezos couple owned about 16% of Amazon’s total shares. Under their divorce settlement, MacKenzie received 25% of the shares they held together. Bezos retained the remaining roughly 12% stake in Amazon. However, they agreed that he would continue to exercise voting rights over the shares transferred to MacKenzie, minimizing the impact on his control of the company.

The structure of the Huangs’ holdings differs from the Bezos case. Lori Huang already shares voting and investment decision-making authority as a co-trustee over a substantial number of her husband’s NVIDIA shares.

Citing legal experts, CNBC reported that if the couple were to divide their assets in the future, the trusts’ complex ownership structure and potential restrictions on share transfers could make the division difficult.

In particular, the irrevocable trusts used by the Huangs could further complicate an asset division. Once assets are transferred into an irrevocable trust, they are managed under the terms of the trust agreement, and it is generally difficult to change those terms or reclaim the assets.

Changing the terms of a trust may also require the consent of beneficiaries or a court. CNBC analyzed that, regardless of whether the couple divorces, this trust structure could discourage a large-scale sale of NVIDIA shares.

Lesley Evans, an attorney at Withers, a law firm specializing in wealth management, said, “Even if the shares in the living trust are divided, restrictions on selling them would still apply.” She added that Huang could consider keeping the shares while giving his wife other assets or cash instead.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.