Elon Musk has joined a growing campaign to bring Jensen Huang back as Nvidia CEO. “A petition is underway to reinstate Jensen and I’m signing it too,” Musk posted on X. He is now one of more than 43,000 people who have signed an open letter to Nvidia’s board, two days after Huang resigned from the company he co-founded 33 years ago. The letter is hosted on a volunteer-run site called Stand with Jensen, and asks the board to reinstate Huang while an independent investigation establishes the facts. Its live counter, which refreshes every 30 seconds, lists 2,980 signers as current Nvidia employees, 454 as former employees and 24,097 as shareholders. The other 15,517 signed as supporters. The campaign says it isn’t endorsed by Nvidia or Huang, and that affiliations are self-reported and unverified.
What the open letter to Nvidia’s board demands
The letter opens with gratitude and turns to process. Signers say they are concerned Huang was removed “without meaningful due process,” and that they haven’t been shown evidence that the woman at the centre of the controversy was a spy. “Suspicion or association alone is not a sufficient basis for ending Jensen’s leadership,” it reads. It makes three demands. The first is to reinstate Huang as CEO, or give a specific, evidence-based reason why his absence serves Nvidia. The second is an independent investigation with a disclosed scope and timeline, and a fair chance for Huang to respond before any final decision. The third is a timely public explanation of the board’s concerns, its evidence and how it weighed the interests of employees and shareholders. The letter stops short of calling Huang blameless. “Thirty-three years of leadership do not place anyone above accountability. But accountability requires evidence, a fair hearing, and a reasoned decision,” it says. “Jensen deserves due process, not mob justice.”
Tim Sweeney, Garry Tan and 4,000 Nvidia employees among signers
Musk isn’t the only big name. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, Y Combinator’s Garry Tan, Replit CEO Amjad Masad, Cohere’s Aidan Gomez and investor Gavin Baker of Atreides Management have signed too. Binance co-founder Yi He left a one-line message: “I wear a leather jacket. I disagree.” Messages from Nvidia staff are more measured. Erwin Coumans, who lists himself as a senior distinguished engineer, wrote that Huang’s private affairs are “none of my business” and that any breach of the code of conduct “has to be dealt with,” but asked for fair treatment. Solutions architect Elias Seyoum pointed to Huang’s own management philosophy. “Jensen talks about not firing for mistakes but using it as an opportunity to learn. Let’s give him that same courtesy,” he wrote. The site also filters what goes up. New signatures may be held for organiser review, and a message showing mockery or negative sentiment toward Huang can get the whole signature rejected. The letter adds to pressure that has been building inside Nvidia all week. An internal suggestion box post urging the board to weigh employee sentiment has drawn more than 1,600 comments, most of them backing Huang’s return, Wired reported. The publication also couldn’t find a single post from an Nvidia employee supporting his exit.
Why Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia CEO
Huang stepped down as president, CEO and board member on November 12, effective immediately. Four days earlier, he had admitted in a memo to employees that he was “unfaithful to my wife,” after reports of a relationship with Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive whom US intelligence agencies believe was spying for China. Reports then surfaced of a second affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare, who reported directly to him, and later of a third with another employee.
CFO Colette Kress is now interim CEO, and former Synopsys CEO Harvey Jones has become Nvidia’s first-ever board chair. Huang has been asked to testify before the Senate Banking Committee next month. The campaign’s site sums up its ask in one line: “Thirty-three years deserve an answer.” The board’s first chance to give one comes next week, when Nvidia reports earnings on November 17 and Kress addresses employees at an all-hands meeting the following morning.
