AI summary
Summary of article:
After Huang Renxun resigned as CEO due to multiple allegations of extramarital affairs, many Huida employees asked the board of directors to reinstate him and questioned why the investigation was handled before it was completed.
Jen-Hsun Huang After the CEO resigned due to a series of extramarital affairs, some NvidiaHuida (also known as Nvidia) employees are still demanding his return.
Internal information obtained by WIRED shows that before Jen-Hsun Huang resigned, a senior engineer submitted an article to an internal “suggestion box” urging the board of directors to consider employees’ feelings before taking action. The post has drawn more than 1,600 comments so far, many of which asked the board of directors to try to bring Huang back.
An anonymous commenter wrote: “If you agree with our mission, please bring back the Boss.”
Another person wrote, “We all make mistakes. Jen-Hsun Huang has done a lot of good things, he should be given another chance.”
Some employees even sent a letter to all colleagues, asking for clarification regarding Huang Renxun’s departure.
“I support Jensen Huang,” the employee wrote. “Not that I think anyone is infallible, but I do believe that standing up for fairness requires drawing a clear line with a leader who is so important to us.”
Huang, 63, has led Huida since its founding in 1993. He sent a letter to staff on Sunday in which he admitted being “unfaithful to his wife” and said there were “no excuses” for his behaviour. Earlier there were reports that he had an extramarital affair with a woman who is suspected to be a Chinese intelligence officer.
Later, the media reported that he was suspected of having a second extramarital affair with a supervisor who reported directly to him. Reuters later reported that he was suspected of having an extramarital affair with another HUDA employee. Huang has not responded to the reports since sending the letter on Sunday.
Huida’s board of directors is mainly composed of early investors and people whom Huang Renxun has trusted for a long time. The board of directors appointed Chief Financial Officer Colette Cress as interim CEO and former Synopsys CEO Jones as president.
The crisis has wiped $1 trillion from Huida’s market value since the allegations emerged, prompting investigations by the US Congress and the FBI, and could also prompt the US to impose new chip export controls.
Work continued as usual within Huida this week, but Huang Renxun’s resignation still shocked many employees. Within hours of the news breaking, about 20 employees posted messages of support on LinkedIn. One of them described that their confidence in Huang Renxun’s leadership has always remained unchanged. During the same period, Wired magazine could not find any of Huida’s employees to write in support of his resignation.
Many employees thought the board would wait for the investigation to be completed before taking major decisions. For example, the Suggestion Box post asked the board of directors to announce the results of the investigation to employees and formally solicit their opinion on “Huang Jensen’s continued work as CEO.”
But the investigation had just begun when Huang left, and employees wanted to know more about why it happened. The letter sent to all employees said, “If America fails the man who helped shape America’s future, then the world does not deserve Jen-Hsun Huang.”
Summary FAQ
-
Many employees believe that Huang Renxun has led Huida forward for a long time and made great contributions to the company’s mission and development. Therefore, even in the face of ethical disputes, he still hopes that the board of directors will wait until the investigation is completed before deciding whether to let him go.
-
Employees expect the board of directors to disclose the results of the investigation, explain the entire process of Huang Renxun’s departure, and solicit employees’ opinions on whether he should continue to serve as CEO, rather than formally finalizing the decision before the investigation is completed.
-
The crisis has wiped off US$1 trillion from Huida’s market value and triggered investigations by the US Congress and the FBI. It is also expected that this incident may prompt the United States to tighten chip export controls.
