Key facts
- Nvidia's board accepted Huang's resignation as president, CEO and director, the company announced on November 12.
- Nvidia said CFO Colette Kress would keep her finance responsibilities while serving as interim CEO.
- Harvey Jones will serve as board chairman while directors consider internal and external candidates, Nvidia said.
- Musk wrote on X that a petition to reinstate Huang was underway and that he was signing it too.
- Musk did not disclose which petition he supports, and Nvidia has not announced plans to reinstate Huang.
- Nvidia previously said it had no reason to believe company secrets or US national security had been compromised.
Nvidia announced on November 12 that its board had accepted Jensen Huang's resignation as president, CEO and director. The company appointed Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO and said she would retain her finance responsibilities during the transition. Harvey Jones will serve as board chairman while directors consider internal and external candidates for a permanent chief executive.
Elon Musk backed calls for Huang's return in a November 13 reply on X to former Nvidia engineer Yun-Ta Tsai, who had urged employees to support a reinstatement. "A petition is underway to reinstate Jensen and I'm signing it too," Musk wrote. Musk did not disclose which petition he supports, and Nvidia has not announced plans to reinstate Huang.
Earlier, when another X user suggested hiring the former CEO, Musk replied, "That would be an honor." Tsai, who has previously been involved with Nvidia's core GPU design team, argued that experienced GPU engineers were difficult to replace and credited Huang's strategy for Nvidia's development.
WIRED reported that more than 1,600 people commented on an internal Nvidia campaign to support Huang, most of them in favor of his return, and that the discussion began before his resignation and continued through the board's announcement. According to WIRED, staff had access to an internal suggestion system and some employees questioned why an investigation had not reached conclusions before the decision was taken.
Huang's departure followed reports concerning his personal relationships and allegations involving a suspected foreign intelligence operation. Nvidia previously said it had no reason to believe company secrets or US national security had been compromised. Beijing has denied that a Chinese intelligence campaign was aimed at Huang through a business executive.
Separately, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick agreed to testify before the Senate Banking Committee over Nvidia's chip exports to China, as the board weighs employee sentiment and Musk's endorsement.