Nvidia’s own workforce has turned on its board. Days after Jensen Huang’s sudden resignation as chief executive, employees are openly pressing directors to bring the company’s co-founder back, and Elon Musk has added his voice to the campaign. An internal post calling for Huang’s return drew more than 1,600 comments, most of them in his favour, according to WIRED, which cited internal correspondence. Musk, meanwhile, has said he will sign a petition demanding the same thing.
The backlash is striking because of who Huang is to Nvidia. He co-founded the company in April 1993 with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, and he was its only chief executive for 33 years, the longest-serving boss of any company in the S&P 500. Under him, Nvidia grew from video-game graphics chips into the backbone of the artificial intelligence industry. In October 2025 it became the first company ever worth 5 trillion dollars, and analysts estimate it now supplies about 90 per cent of the chips used to train AI models.
Staff Want Huang Back
The push began inside the company before Huang had even left. A longtime Nvidia engineer submitted a post asking directors to weigh employees’ views before acting, to share the findings of their investigation, and to formally ask staff whether Huang should remain chief executive. The post gathered more than 1,600 comments, and most of them backed his return.
One employee sent a companywide email asking for more openness about Huang’s exit. About two dozen employees backed him publicly on LinkedIn in the hours after he resigned, and another told WIRED they feared Nvidia would suffer without its founder at the top.
What the Petition Wants
Outside the company, a separate campaign has taken up the same cause. Stand with Jensen, an independent campaign run by volunteers, has published an open letter asking Nvidia to reinstate Huang while an outside investigation establishes the facts. Its organisers argue that a man who led the company for 33 years should be able to answer the claims against him before the board reaches a final decision.
The letter also presses the board on the investigation, asking Nvidia to say what the inquiry covers, how it will stay independent, and when it is expected to finish, and to explain the evidence it weighed. If the board keeps Huang out of the job while the inquiry runs, the campaign wants directors to explain how that serves Nvidia’s interests.
Musk Says He’ll Sign
Elon Musk gave the campaign its loudest endorsement. “A petition is underway to reinstate Jensen, and I’m signing it too,” he wrote on X on November 13. The Washington Post reported his name appeared on the public letter, although Reuters said it was unclear whether Musk’s post referred to the internal effort or the outside campaign.
Garry Tan, head of startup accelerator Y Combinator, said publicly that he had signed the open letter, and Musk reposted his statement. Amjad Masad, head of coding platform Replit, urged others to sign and said he had helped the site cope with a surge of traffic. The campaign accepts signatory details as self-reported, and its organisers said they were removing fake entries.
Huang Left During the Inquiry
The board opened its independent investigation on November 8, after reports that Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. Directors said then they had no reason to believe American national security or company secrets had been compromised. Huang acknowledged in an email to staff that he had been unfaithful to his wife and said he would cooperate.
Four days later, Nvidia announced that Huang had resigned as president, chief executive and board member, after reports of an alleged relationship with an executive who reported directly to him. WIRED reported that many employees had expected the inquiry to finish before any leadership changes were made.
Nvidia’s market value had already slipped from about 5.78 trillion dollars in early October to around 4.5 trillion by November 6, and the stock fell further when reports emerged that the board was preparing to remove Huang.
Who Runs Nvidia Now?
For now, finance chief Colette Kress is interim chief executive while keeping her chief financial officer role, and longtime director Harvey C. Jones has become chairman. Nvidia has said it will consider both internal and external candidates for the permanent job.
The Financial Times reported that the board had approached Rene Haas, chief executive of the chip designer Arm. The board told Reuters it was selecting a search firm and had yet to formally engage any candidates. Donald Trump praised Huang’s leadership separately and suggested Tim Cook, the former chief executive of Apple, as a successor.
The coming weeks will show whether the staff campaign changes anything. The board has given no sign that it will reverse course, and it has said nothing publicly about the petition. But it now faces pressure from its own employees and from investors watching a company worth trillions being run by an interim chief. Whoever takes the job permanently inherits a workforce willing to fight for the man who built it.
