Nvidia staff demand board reinstate Jensen Huang, cite Musk job offer
Hundreds of Nvidia employees signed an internal letter demanding the board reinstate CEO Jensen Huang and appoint new independent directors, or they may join SpaceX Terafab. Elon Musk has assured positions for all Nvidia staff if they choose to leave.
Hundreds of Nvidia employees have signed an internal letter demanding that the board reinstate Jensen Huang as chief executive and appoint new independent directors, or they may join SpaceX Terafab, according to a report by The Standard.
The letter said terminating Huang has jeopardised the work of all employees who helped build Nvidia into the world’s leading provider of AI computing platforms. It argued the board 'did not have the competence to oversee Nvidia'. Employees said the board’s decision was 'unexpected' and that it was 'negotiating in bad faith' by failing to provide written evidence to terminate Huang, which demonstrated 'a willingness to jeopardise Nvidia's technological leadership'.
'The leadership team suggested that the most stabilizing path forward … would be for you to resign and put in place a qualified board that could lead the company forward in stability,' the letter stated. Employees said they may resign from Nvidia and join the SpaceX Terafab initiative under Huang and Elon Musk. 'Elon Musk has assured us that there are positions for all Nvidia employees at Space and Terafab should we choose to join,' they wrote.
Before Huang’s resignation, WIRED reported that a longtime Nvidia engineer submitted an internal 'suggestion box' post urging the board to consider employee sentiment. The post drew more than 1,600 comments, with several employees asking the board to bring Huang back. 'If you believe in the mission, bring back THE boss,' one anonymous commenter wrote. Another said: 'We are all humans and can make mistakes. Jensen did so many good things and he needs a second chance.'
One employee sent a companywide email demanding a transparent investigation of Huang’s exit, saying: 'I stand by Jensen … because I refuse to believe that standing for fairness must mean standing at a distance from someone whose leadership has meant so much to us.' After Huang’s resignation, pedestrians left flowers and candles by the Nvidia sign outside the company’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California.