Elon Musk said it would be an “honor” to hire Nvidia’s Jensen Huang – a sign the ousted CEO might have some options ahead of him despite his scandalous affair with an alleged Chinese spy and reported romance with an underling.
After a user on X wrote late Wednesday, “Elon please hire Jensen,” the Tesla and SpaceX billionaire, 55, replied: “That would be an honor.”
By Thursday morning, the Silicon Valley chipmaker announced that Huang, 63, was resigning as CEO, president and a member of the board, effective immediately, in the wake of a report that he had a second extramarital affair with an executive at his company.
Musk – the world’s richest person with a $907 billion net worth, per Forbes – wasn’t the only person to voice support of Huang, even as his firm has shed hundreds of billions of dollars amid the scandal.
Palmer Luckey, the billionaire co-founder of Anduril, an American defense company known for its AI-powered, autonomous weaponry, wrote in an overnight post on X: “China wants Jensen out, so I want him in.”
Silicon Valley investor Sarah Guo, who founded the AI-focused venture capital firm Conviction, defended Huang in a lengthy social-media post, writing: “We should demand loyalty and accountability, but sainthood cannot be the price of admission to leadership.”
She called Huang “one of the most extraordinary entrepreneurs of all time” and argued that “greatness doesn’t guarantee goodness.”
Nvidia’s board said it is conducting a search for a permanent replacement and will consider both internal and external candidates.
Huang did not have a clear successor – a major concern for investors as the company’s stock has plunged since he fessed to an affair with Alice Huang, no relation, on Sunday.
Colette Kress, Nvidia’s chief financial officer and executive vice president, was named as interim CEO on Thursday.
She will continue to serve in her current roles during the search.
Harvey Jones, a venture capitalist and former CEO of Synopsys, will serve as the company’s first-ever chairman of the board.
The shakeup comes less than a week out from Nvidia’s third-quarter earnings report.