Nvidia Employees Rally For Jensen Huang To Return. Will Board Allow It?

Jensen Huang has quit as Nvidia's president, chief executive and board member, and the company said it is looking for a permanent CEO, be it an "insider" or an "outsider". However, inside Nvidia, employees are calling for Huang's return even after his multiple reported extramarital affairs and abrupt resignation, according to a report by Wired.

Even before his exit, some 1,600 comments reportedly flooded Nvidia's internal "suggestion box", with several employees asking board members to find a way to bring Huang back on the team.

"If you believe in the mission, bring back THE boss," one anonymous commenter reportedly wrote. 

Another, according to the Wired report, said, "We are all humans and can make mistakes. Jensen did so many good things, and he needs a second chance."

About two dozen employees have also reportedly shown their support for Huang on LinkedIn, while an employee sent a companywide email asking for more openness about why he left, Business Today reported. 

Huang, 63, is one of the world's wealthiest people, with a personal fortune that Forbes estimates at more than $150 billion. He is the single largest individual shareholder of Nvidia stock.

What Nvidia's Board Said

Nvidia's board announced an investigation into Huang's relationship with a woman whom US officials had concluded was a Chinese spy but said it remained confident in Huang's leadership. Then pressure compounded late Wednesday after reports surfaced of another alleged affair by Huang, this time with an Nvidia employee who reported to him. Reuters reported Thursday that Huang had an intimate relationship with a second employee, citing unidentified sources.

Later that day, Nvidia announced Huang's resignation but gave no reason for it. It named Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO and made director Harvey C Jones the board's first-ever chair.

Nvidia said the board would consider internal and external candidates for the permanent job but did not say anything about offering any advisory role for Huang.

Can Huang Get His Post Back? 

The next CEO will be chosen by Nvidia's board, so Huang can return to his position only if the directors back him. Huang has resigned from his seat on the board, so he no longer has a seat at the table that decides the company's future. Therefore, the people who could put Jensen Huang back in place are the ones who announced he was gone.

Can Staff Revolt Bring A CEO Back?

It is not common, but it has happened in the past. The best-known example of that is OpenAI, whose board fired Sam Altman in November 2023. After this, nearly all of the company's 770 employees signed a letter threatening to leave unless the board resigned and Altman returned. 

Within days, OpenAI agreed to bring Altman back with a new board after Microsoft had offered to hire him and any staff who followed him.

But Altman's situation was different from Huang. Altman was fired by a board, and staff threatened a mass walkout. Huang, according to Nvidia, resigned, and the staff is urging the company to bring him back.