Musk and Nvidia staff push for Huang's return as the board courts a successor

Jensen Huang, who co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and ran it for 33 years, resigned as president, chief executive and board member on November 12, ending a run that turned the graphics chip designer into the world's leading supplier of AI chips 6

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. The resignation followed reports of alleged extramarital relationships, including one with a businesswoman whom some US intelligence officials suspect of links to Chinese intelligence services 2

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In a letter to employees, Huang admitted he had cheated on his wife and apologised for breaking her trust 4

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. The Wall Street Journal reported that the woman in the letter was Alice Huang, a Chinese businesswoman whom some US intelligence officials suspect of links to Chinese intelligence 4

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. The New York Times has separately reported a relationship with Kimberly Powell, a Nvidia vice president who reports to Huang 3

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. Reuters cited two sources for a relationship with a second employee 3

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. Per CNN, US intelligence remains unclear about any actual link between Alice Huang and Chinese intelligence agencies 2

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, and Nvidia says it has no reason to believe national security or confidential information was compromised, though its board has opened an independent investigation into a potential foreign intelligence effort 5

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The push to bring him back

Elon Musk said he is signing a petition to reinstate Huang, its most prominent backer. On Friday he posted on X that "a petition is underway to reinstate Jensen and I'm signing it too", replying to Tesla senior staff engineer Yun-Ta Tsai 3

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. Which petition he meant, and how many people have signed it, is unclear 3

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. Musk is a major Nvidia customer, buying millions of its GPUs for his data centers, and has argued founders are difficult to replace 2

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Per Wired, an internal forum post drew more than 1,600 comments, many backing Huang and questioning the board's decision 6

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. "We are all humans and can make mistakes. Jensen did so many good things and he needs a second chance," one anonymous employee wrote 6

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. Employees argued he deserved a second chance and due process before removal 6

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. The support extends beyond the company: Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney posted "I stand with Jensen", OpenAI's Peter Steinberger wrote "Ousting Jensen feels rushed and not right", and President Donald Trump has also backed Huang, per the reports 6

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. Some critics said the resignation should have waited until investigations concluded 6

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The board looks elsewhere

Nvidia has not stood still. CFO Colette Kress is interim CEO and longtime board member Harvey Jones is chairman 6

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. Per the Financial Times, the board has approached Arm Holdings chief executive Rene Haas, who has led Arm since 2022, about the top job 1

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. Haas also spent about seven years at Nvidia over a decade ago, per the report 1

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. The board says it has not formally engaged with any candidate 1

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. "Any speculation regarding individual candidates, whether internal or external, is premature," it said 1

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. Arm declined to comment on the report 5

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Whether Huang comes back is the question the whole story turns on, and the campaign has a template to point at. The episode has drawn comparison to OpenAI's ouster of Sam Altman, where employees threatened to resign in 2023 and the board reinstated him within days 6

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. Traders are less convinced: on prediction market Polymarket, Huang's odds of returning by the end of 2027 sit at 31% 3

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. Nvidia reports quarterly earnings on November 17, with an employee meeting the day after, an early test of the new leadership 6

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