According to CCTV Finance, on November 14 local time, Elon Musk signed an open letter calling on NVIDIA's board of directors to reinstate Jensen Huang as CEO. The number of petition signatures has currently exceeded 120,000 and continues to rise.
This open letter was published on a volunteer-run website (https://standwithjensen.com/), with signatories including current and former NVIDIA employees, shareholders, and several figures from the tech industry.
In addition to Musk, Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee and Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke have also signed. However, the website notes that signature information is self-reported by declarants, and the platform does not verify identities; fake signatures have been identified and removed.
It is understood that Jensen Huang resigned from his positions as President, CEO, and board member of NVIDIA on November 12, effective immediately. The reason for his resignation was his admission of an extramarital affair, and NVIDIA CFO Colette Kress was appointed as interim CEO.
Following the news, NVIDIA's stock closed down 4.34% that day, dropping over 14% at one point during trading. Its market capitalization evaporated by approximately $573 billion within a week, with the share price falling to around $163. This chip giant, which was recently the world's most valuable company, is experiencing severe turbulence.
Elon Musk previously stated in response to a post by a senior engineer at Tesla's Superintelligence Department that he would sign the petition.
The engineer, who formerly worked at NVIDIA, posted that excellent GPU engineers are even more sought-after in the market than machine learning engineers and are extremely difficult to replace, arguing that without Jensen Huang's vision, NVIDIA would not be what it is today.
Musk later reposted a thread about the composition of NVIDIA's board of directors, writing: "This is the board making decisions for what was once the most valuable company on Earth!?" accompanied by a "facepalm" emoji.
Additionally, Wired reported that employees posted in NVIDIA's internal suggestion box calling for Jensen Huang's return, garnering around 1,600 supportive internal comments. A survey conducted by the anonymous workplace community Blind from November 9 to 10 among 232 NVIDIA employees showed that 88% of respondents hoped Jensen Huang would remain in his position;
The petition website lists approximately 2,854 signatures from individuals identifying as current and former NVIDIA employees, with some major shareholders also publicly expressing support.
Analysts point out that Jensen Huang's value extends beyond the technical level to supplier relationships, customer relations, and his influence across the entire artificial intelligence industry. Having led NVIDIA for 33 years, Huang transformed the company from a graphics chip manufacturer into an AI computing powerhouse, with his personal leadership deeply intertwined with the company's strategy.
Jensen Huang's resignation has also led market observers to recall historical instances where tech giants lost their core visionary leaders. Apple lost its direction after dismissing Steve Jobs and was once on the verge of bankruptcy before his return, a cautionary tale frequently cited.
As of now, NVIDIA's board of directors has not responded to the matter of Jensen Huang's reinstatement, with interim CEO Colette Kress continuing to oversee daily operations. It remains unclear whether the petition letter will change the board's decision.