Nvidia employees want Huang back

The "Let Huang come back" campaign that started at Nvidia was reflected in the internal correspondence of the employees. Before Jensen Huang's resignation, an engineer published a post in the suggestion box calling for the board of directors. So the campaign had started before Huang left office.

Let Huang come back campaign started in the suggestion box

According to correspondence reviewed by WIRED, an engineer who has been working at Nvidia for a long time asked the board of directors to formally gather the opinions of employees before making a decision. He also requested that the findings of the investigation be shared within the company.

The post received over 1,600 comments; Most of the comments wanted the founding CEO to return to office. Some employees recalled Huang's contributions to the company and advocated for him to be given a second chance. An employee also expressed his support in an e-mail sent to the entire company and asked the board to be more transparent during the separation process.

According to WIRED, in the hours following the resignation, approximately 24 employees also posted support for Huang on LinkedIn.

The process leading to separation

Nvidia's board of directors launched an independent investigation on Nov. 8 following reports that Huang was the target of foreign intelligence activity. Huang emailed employees the same day. He admitted that he had an extramarital affair and apologized.

Later, it was reported in the press that he had an affair with an Nvidia executive who was directly reporting to him. Huang, who had led the company since its founding in 1993, resigned from all his duties, including CEO and board member, after the board of directors' meeting on November 12.

The new management of the company and the future of the campaign

Nvidia has appointed chief financial officer Colette Kress as interim CEO. Following the news of the separation, Nvidia shares followed a volatile course. Harvey Jones was appointed as the chairman of the board of directors. Nvidia and Jones did not respond to WIRED's request for comment on the employee call at the time of publication.

The company announced that it will consider both internal and external candidates for the permanent CEO.