NVIDIA Employees Petition to “Bring Jensen Back” ... With Tears and Bouquets, Too

[Financial News] Calls for Jensen Huang, NVIDIA’s founder and CEO, to return are already emerging within the company following his abrupt resignation, it is reported.
This appears both to express respect and trust for the man who built the “NVIDIA success story” and to reflect anxiety over his absence.
The U.S. technology publication Wired reported on the 12th (local time), citing internal documents, that some NVIDIA employees are calling for former CEO Huang to return to an active management role despite his abrupt resignation over affair allegations.
According to Wired, before Huang resigned, a long-serving NVIDIA engineer posted a message in the company’s suggestion box, urging the company to take employees’ sentiments into account.
The post received more than 1,600 comments, several of which asked the board to “find a way to bring former CEO Huang back.”
One anonymous employee wrote, “We are all human and can make mistakes,” and added, “Jensen has done a lot of good and needs a second chance.” It was an expression of trust in him and an appraisal of his role.
Another employee wrote in an email sent to all employees, “I’ll stand with Jensen,” and also called on the board to be transparent about the process of former CEO Huang’s departure.
U.S. broadcaster CNBC reported that some employees even shed tears when news of former CEO Huang’s resignation broke that day.



An anonymous source said many employees had regarded former CEO Huang as an idol and considered him essential to NVIDIA’s identity, adding that the mood was “more complicated” than what was known publicly.
Concerns are growing that his absence will deal a significant blow to the company, given that former CEO Huang led it through his powerful leadership. He had no designated successor and oversaw the company’s operations, receiving direct reports from about 60 senior executives.
CNBC reported that tensions have risen among the current leadership and that the board is considering ways to prevent NVIDIA’s business from contracting.
Colette Kress, the chief financial officer (CFO), has taken on the role of interim CEO and is working to improve morale across the organization. Interim CEO Kress encouraged employees that day, saying, “You are our greatest strength,” and said she planned to hold an all-hands meeting on the 18th to discuss plans going forward.




Bouquets and candles were also seen outside NVIDIA’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California.
CNBC reported that although there was no specific message, the display appeared to express grief over former CEO Huang’s resignation.
Meanwhile, Wired reported that many NVIDIA employees and executives had expected major changes only after the board’s investigation was complete.
A post in the company’s suggestion box also asked the board to share its findings with employees and “formally seek employees’ views on the possibility of Jensen continuing as CEO.”
However, foreign media outlets reported that former CEO Huang stepped down just as the investigation was getting underway, and that the mood at the company is now somber.

[email protected] Lee Seok-woo, international affairs correspondent Reporter