Some people are not ready to let former CEO Jensen Huang go.
A petition to reinstate Huang as Nvidia CEO had more than 108,000 signatures as of Saturday afternoon, including prominent tech leaders such as billionaire Elon Musk and Replit CEO Amjad Masad. Two executives promoted the petition in X.
The website for the campaign, called “Stand with Jensen,” says the list includes more than 58,000 shareholders, more than 5,600 current Nvidia employees, and more than 1,000 former employees.
Also, to be fair, it includes “Tim Cruise, Hollywood actor” and “Xi Jingping,” a misspelled reference to the Chinese leader. In X’s post on Saturday, the organizers said they were “actively working” to remove fake signatures.
One of the Nvidia employees who signed the letter told Business Insider that similar efforts are underway at the company. A post with similar sentiments appeared on the internal portal where employees can post questions and suggestions, they said.
Wired reported that the post had garnered 1,600 comments as of Thursday — a number that has now doubled, the employee said.
Earlier this week, Nvidia’s board of directors said it was opening an investigation into whether Huang was a “target of foreign intelligence efforts.” after he admitted having an affair in a letter to staff. A few days later, Huang resigned after reports that he had another relationship with Nvidia executives, and the board appointed Colette Kress, executive vice president and chief financial officer, as interim CEO until he found a permanent successor.
An October report by The New York Times said Huang had developed a “close relationship” with Alice Huang, a technology executive at Megaspeed in Singapore. The Times reported that US intelligence officials said he may have been a spy for the Chinese government. China has since denied the claim. On Thursday, Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department had not concluded that Alice Huang was a spy.
Organizers of “Stand with Jensen” said in an open letter to Nvidia’s board posted on its website that they believe the board removed Huang without an investigation and “useful due process.”
“We have not shown evidence substantiating the allegations of espionage. After thirty-three years of pouring heart and soul into NVIDIA, Jensen deserves due process, not mob justice,” he said.
Organizers said they wanted Huang to stay on as CEO while the investigation continued.
“Disclose the scope and timeline, provide a meaningful opportunity to respond, and provide a clear and evidence-based explanation that shows that any removal is in NVIDIA’s interests. The campaign does not consider espionage allegations as evidence or consider the findings of the investigation,” said the committee.
An Nvidia employee who spoke to Business Insider said that despite Huang’s mistakes, he is a singular leader in the vein of Steve Jobs or Elon Musk. They give employees a “motivational boost” and surprise them with new ideas and products.
“Nvidia wouldn’t be beat without him, but it wouldn’t be the same,” he said.
Employees suggested that Huang should face investigation and potential consequences for his actions, but that the Board should preserve the way to return.
The “Stand with Jensen” petition also got signatures from big names such as Boom Supersonic CEO Blake Scholl and Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan. A signatory who describes himself as an engineer at Nvidia called Huang as “an important part” of the company in comments on the website.
“His personal affairs are none of my business, and if his behavior violates our code of conduct, it must be addressed. Please bring him back and give him fair treatment, take a track record and be important to NVIDIA and the wider community,” said the employee.
Separately, two prominent Nvidia investors wrote a letter to the board of directors on Friday, urging them to take a “measured” approach to future leadership. Even if it means Huang returns as CEO.
“We believe the Board should avoid a rush to replace Jensen that undermines and undermines the interests of our stakeholders,” said Altimeter Capital Management CEO Brad Gerstner and Atreides Management Managing Partner Gavin Barker.
In a statement, Nvidia’s board of directors said it would consider internal and external candidates in its bid to replace Huang, who founded the company and served as CEO for more than three decades. The board has yet to identify a new CEO, but names of potential candidates are starting to surface among analysts and investors.