Two Major Nvidia Investors Ask Board to Keep Door Open to Jensen Huang's Return

Two major Nvidia shareholders, Altimeter Capital and Atreides Management, asked the company's board on Friday to run a slow, deliberate CEO search that leaves open the possibility of Jensen Huang's return. Nvidia shares were down 2.0% in delayed trading at $162.85.

Altimeter Capital CEO Brad Gerstner posted the letter on X on Friday; it is also signed by Atreides Management's Gavin Baker. The two firms disclosed about $2.13 billion of Nvidia stock combined as of June 30. Altimeter held a 9.4 million-share stake worth nearly $1.9 billion at that date, and Atreides held 1.2 million shares worth nearly $250 million.

The letter said Nvidia will be capably led by interim CEO Colette Kress, who served as the company's chief financial officer for 13 years before the board named her to lead in Huang's absence. It did not call for Huang's immediate reinstatement, arguing instead that the founder has earned a deliberate process that avoids replacing him before all the facts are known.

Huang resigned as president, CEO and director on Nov. 12 after reports about personal relationships and amid an independent board investigation; Nvidia's resignation announcement did not state a reason. The resignation followed allegations of an affair with a suspected Chinese spy, Alice Huang, who also worked with Nvidia customer Megaspeed. The Singapore-based company is being investigated by the Justice Department over possible redirection of restricted Nvidia artificial intelligence chips to China.

Elon Musk said on X on Friday that he signed a petition asking to reinstate Huang. The petition, called Stand with Jensen, claims more than 100,000 signatures, including more than 5,000 current Nvidia employees. Musk said on X on Saturday that without Huang some critical deals will be lost.

Separately, another letter sent Friday called on U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to testify about Megaspeed before the House Intelligence Committee. Lutnick has agreed to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Dec. 10 about whether the Commerce Department is properly performing its broader role of preventing China from acquiring advanced AI chips. Huang has also been asked to testify.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit China on Thursday but does not plan to raise Nvidia and the suspected spy affair during his meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping, according to U.S. officials. Musk is expected to join Trump on the trip for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on Nov. 18 and 19 in Shenzhen, China.