Some Nvidia employees are not ready to part ways with Jensen Huang even after the scandal involving his infidelities. Some employees are calling for his return to the CEO position. Some believe he deserves a second chance, while others are convinced that without Huang, Nvidia will no longer be the same company.
WIRED reports this, whose journalists have reviewed Nvidia's internal correspondence.
It all began even before Huang's resignation. One of the engineers, who has worked at the company for a long time, left a post in the internal "suggestion box." He asked the board of directors not to rush the decision regarding Huang and to first ask the employees' opinion.
And when Huang did eventually leave, the post turned into a place where employees call for the former manager to return. It already has over 1,600 comments, and according to WIRED, most of them are in support of Huang.
“If you believe in our mission, bring back BOSA,” writes one of the anonymous commenters.
"All of us are people and can make mistakes. Jensen has done so much good. He deserves a second chance," another believes.
Some went even further. One of the employees sent a letter to the entire company demanding an explanation of why Huang left the position. In the letter, he states that he continues to support the founder of Nvidia, and at the end adds:
"If America lets down the man who helped build its future, then this world does not deserve Jensen Huang."
Not only do they support Huang anonymously. Within hours of his resignation, about two dozen Nvidia employees spoke out in his defense on LinkedIn. One of them stated that his faith in Huang's leadership remains unwavering. Moreover, WIRED was unable to find a single public post by an Nvidia employee supporting the resignation.
One of the publication's interlocutors explained the sentiment this way: "Nvidia is Nvidia thanks to Jensen." He fears that without the company's founder, it will gradually begin to lose ground.
Many employees were surprised that Huang left so quickly. Many expected that the board of directors would first complete the investigation, publish its results, and seek the team's opinion. Instead, the resignation occurred when the investigation was only just beginning.
Previously, dev.ua reported in detail how the scandal over Jensen Huang's marital affair and the alleged connections of one of the women to Chinese intelligence cost him his position at Nvidia. The board of directors even hired a law firm for an independent investigation, but Huang left the company before it was completed. Now Nvidia is looking for a permanent replacement for him, and CFO Colette Kress is temporarily performing the duties of CEO.
dev.ua also wrote about why it might be difficult for Nvidia to find a replacement for Huang. Over more than 30 years of leadership, he essentially built the entire company management system around himself. About 60 executives reported directly to Jensen Huang. He himself could intervene in any matter — from chip development to the salaries of junior employees. In addition, Nvidia never prepared a traditional plan for transferring leadership to a successor.