Elon Musk Vows to Sign Petition to Bring Jensen Huang Back as Nvidia CEO

Elon Musk has backed a petition seeking Jensen Huang’s return as Nvidia CEO, one day after the chipmaker announced his resignation. The Tesla and SpaceX chief joined calls for Huang’s reinstatement as Nvidia employees questioned the company’s leadership change. Ad Ad

Elon Musk Backs Petition to Reinstate Jensen Huang

In a November 13 reply on X, Musk responded to former Nvidia engineer Yun-Ta Tsai, who urged employees to support Huang’s return. Tsai argued that skilled GPU engineers could use their influence to press for a leadership change.

“A petition is underway to reinstate Jensen and I’m signing it too,” Musk wrote. His statement came amid a surge among workers who were demanding Huang’s reinstatement.

Earlier, Musk had shown interest in hiring Huang, when Nvidia announced the leadership transition. When another X user suggested hiring the former CEO, Musk replied, “That would be an honor.”

However, Musk has not disclosed which petition he supports, and Nvidia has not announced plans to reinstate Huang. The board is still on the lookout for a new permanent chief executive.

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Nvidia Executives Demand Huang’s Rehired After Leave

Over 1,600 people commented on an internal Nvidia campaign to support Huang, and most of the comments were in favor of his return. The discussion started prior to his resignation and extended through the board’s announcement of the leadership change.

Per WIRED, the staff had access to an internal suggestion system in which they suggested that the director take their opinions into account prior to the change of head. There were also concerns by some employees as to why the investigation hadn’t reached its conclusions prior to proceeding with the decision.

Tsai, who has previously been involved with the Nvidia’s core GPU design team, backed more employee action. He argued that experienced GPU engineers were difficult to replace and credited Huang’s strategy for Nvidia’s development.

The campaign follows China’s denial of espionage allegations involving Huang. Beijing has denied that a Chinese intelligence campaign was aimed at Huang via a business executive.

Nvidia Names Colette Kress Interim CEO as Petition Gains Support

Nvidia announced Huang’s departure on November 12 after its board accepted his resignation as president, CEO, and director. The company appointed Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO while beginning its search for a permanent replacement.

According to Nvidia’s official announcement, Kress will retain her finance responsibilities during the transition. Harvey Jones will serve as board chairman, while directors consider internal and external leadership candidates

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.

In the meantime, as the board is weighing employees and Musk’s petition endorsement after Huang’s resignation, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick agreed to testify before the Senate Banking Committee over Nvidia’s chip exports to China.