Tech supporters lobby chipmaker’s board to reinstate former CEO after he resigned following affair with alleged Chinese spy

Jensen Huang speaks with Alice Huang in a crowd after his keynote at Computex 2024. Both appear to be smiling.

Jensen Huang speaks to Alice Huang after delivering a keynote speech at Computex 2024 in Taipei, Taiwan, on June 2, 2024 © Ann Wang/Reuters

Michael Acton, George Hammond and Demetri Sevastopulo in San Francisco

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Jensen Huang is considering a comeback as Nvidia’s chief executive, as allies in Silicon Valley pressure the company’s board to reinstate him days after the tech executive resigned over reports he had affairs with a suspected Chinese spy and a subordinate.

Huang has discussed with confidantes the possibility of returning, according to multiple people familiar with the matter — even as an independent probe by Nvidia’s board investigates the conduct that led to a spectacular leadership crisis at the $4tn chip company this week.

One Huang ally told the FT they were putting together a “war room” of Silicon Valley executives to lobby for the former Nvidia chief’s return and would try to garner support from the White House.

“Everyone that matters in tech outside the frontier labs loves Jensen,” they said. The efforts had Huang’s support, they added.

A public campaign to reinstate the Nvidia CEO has gathered steam over the weekend. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Epic Games chief executive Tim Sweeney were among executives backing a public letter demanding that its board “Bring Jensen Back.”

Huang continues to command fierce loyalty from some employees, several of whom have gone public in calling for his return in the days since he resigned and have signed the open letter.

The effort to reinstate the CEO is likely to face pushback from key policymakers in Washington, with Treasury secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday calling for a “dramatic shake-up” in leadership at the company after Huang’s departure.

Huang, who lacked the controlling shareholding of other founder-CEOs and was therefore unable to over-rule any board decision, also faces a board and a management team now led by interim chief executive Colette Kress which is aiming to steady the company ahead of quarterly results on Tuesday.

Huang’s affair with Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, has triggered deepening scrutiny of Nvidia’s compliance measures when selling its AI chips to customers in Asia who have potential links to China.

Even allies were unsure how to rehabilitate Huang’s reputation. “Having an affair with a subordinate is a fireable offence,” acknowledged one person involved in efforts to reinstate Huang.

The FT reported on Friday that Arm CEO Rene Haas has been approached by Nvidia’s board as a potential successor. Nvidia’s board said that no “formal” process has been initiated.

Altimeter Capital founder Brad Gerstner and Atreides Management boss Gavin Baker — who are Nvidia shareholders — published an open letter to the board on Friday urging them to leave “all options on the table, including the potential return of Jensen Huang”.

The pair, both large investors in the company, cited “the extraordinary success of Jensen Huang’s leadership over a long period of time and given the massive uncertainty associated with recent events surrounding his departure” as reasons for clemency.

An Nvidia spokesperson and a spokesperson for Huang declined to comment.

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