Open letter urging Nvidia board to reinstate Jensen Huang lists over 130,000 signatories

An open letter calling on Nvidia’s board of directors to reinstate Jensen Huang as chief executive has gathered more than 130,000 public signatories, according to the campaign’s website.

Tesla and SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk publicly backed the campaign on 14 November 2026. “A petition is underway to reinstate Jensen and I’m signing it too,” he wrote on X.

Y Combinator President and Chief Executive Garry Tan also said he had signed. “Jensen deserves due process, not whatever is happening right now. I signed,” he posted on X on 14 November.

The letter asks the board to “bring Jensen back while an independent investigation establishes the facts, unless and until you can provide compelling evidence that his removal is in NVIDIA’s best interests”.

Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia’s chief executive on 12 November 2026, following reports of his relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive of Singapore-registered firm Megaspeed whom US intelligence officials reportedly suspect of being a Chinese asset.

Signatory figures

The campaign website listed over 133,000 public signatories as of midday on 15 November 2026.

As of 12.11pm (Singapore time) that day, the site said 6,644 signatories identified themselves as current Nvidia employees, or 15.82 per cent of the company’s approximately 42,000 staff.

According to the site’s breakdown, these included 68 people listed as executives or vice-presidents, 34 senior directors, 102 directors, 84 senior managers and 228 managers.

Among individual contributors, the site listed 13 distinguished engineers or fellows, 91 principal-level staff and 829 senior individual contributors. Another 1,727 were listed without a specified level, and 3,450 were unclassified.

The website states that affiliations are “self-reported and not verified”, and that statements are the signers’ own views. The Online Citizen has not independently verified the identities or affiliations of signatories, except where noted.

The letter states that it “is independent and is not endorsed by NVIDIA or by Jensen Huang”. Its organisers are not named on the site. The campaign also posts on X under the account “Stand With Jensen” (@TheJensenLetter).

Concerns over due process

The letter, addressed to members of the Nvidia board, describes its signatories as “current and former NVIDIA employees, partners, shareholders, and supporters”.

It says Jensen Huang spent 33 years building Nvidia, betting the company “on ideas that most of the industry dismissed”.

“This company is the work of his life. That deserves more than gratitude after the fact. It deserves fairness now,” the letter states.

It notes that an outside investigation has been announced but not concluded. “We are concerned that Jensen was removed without meaningful due process. We do not have access to the Board’s private deliberations,” it says.

“We have not been shown evidence substantiating the allegation that the woman at the center of this controversy was a spy. Suspicion or association alone is not a sufficient basis for ending Jensen’s leadership,” the letter continues.

“The inquiry must establish the facts, not merely justify an outcome already imposed,” it adds.

On its website, the campaign says organisers and signers are concerned that Jensen Huang “may have been forced out without due process and without even a few days to make his case”.

Three demands

The letter sets out three demands. First, it asks the board to reinstate Jensen Huang as CEO while an independent investigation proceeds.

If the board considers his continued absence necessary, the letter asks it to “provide a specific, evidence-based explanation of why it serves NVIDIA’s best interests”.

Second, it calls for an independent investigation and a fair hearing. It asks the board to disclose the inquiry’s scope, independence and expected timeline, and to give Jensen Huang “a meaningful opportunity to respond” before reaching a final decision.

Third, it asks for a timely public explanation of the board’s concerns, the supporting evidence, and how employees’ and shareholders’ interests were weighed.

The board should “respect legitimate confidentiality without using it to withhold all explanation”, the letter says.

“Thirty-three years of leadership do not place anyone above accountability. But accountability requires evidence, a fair hearing, and a reasoned decision. Jensen deserves due process, not mob justice,” it concludes.

Technology figures speak out

Beyond Musk and Tan, other technology figures have voiced support for Jensen Huang on X.

Epic Games chief executive Tim Sweeney posted on 12 November: “Save Jensen. This would be an Apple firing Steve Jobs level of idiocy from NVIDIA’s board if they did that, and a grievous harm to the United States of America.”

“The dude truly is the visionary driver of the future of tech from the gaming GPU era to CUDA to AI supercomputers,” Sweeney added.

Former Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick shared Musk’s post on 14 November with two “100” emojis.

Entries under the names of Sweeney and Kalanick also appear near the top of the signatory list, though neither has said publicly on X that he signed.

A statement listed under Kalanick’s name, describing him as CEO of Atoms, said Jensen Huang “has erred, yes”, but that nothing he had done “rises to the bar of separating him from his company”.

Voices from inside Nvidia

A signatory listed as Erwin Coumans, a senior distinguished engineer at Nvidia, wrote that he joined the company with Jensen Huang’s leadership “as one of the main reasons”.

“His private affairs are none of my business, and if his actions violated our code of conduct, it has to be dealt with,” the statement said, while urging the board to bring him back and give him fair treatment.

Another signatory listed as a current employee wrote that the board “has not made the case”, adding that it was “difficult to see how forcing a resignation is in the shareholders’ interest”.

Threat of shareholder action

A lengthy statement listed under the name of Erick Miller, described as managing director of Hyperspeed Ventures, demanded that Jensen Huang be reinstated and his board seat restored.

The statement claimed that the board had expressed confidence in Jensen Huang on 8 November, then “forced him out” three days later without a successor or disclosing any findings.

It said that if he was not reinstated, the shareholders it claimed to represent would seek board records under Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, and sue directors who supported his removal for breach of fiduciary duty.

The statement also threatened to vote against those directors, and to gather the 15 per cent of shares needed to call a special meeting to replace the board.

It further alleged that the board’s investigators, which it identified as law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, were “politically biased”. These claims have not been independently verified.

Board’s position

Nvidia’s board has said it has “no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised”, adding that its independent inquiry would examine all available information.

Nvidia officials have repeatedly declined to comment on the matter since 11 November, according to the BBC.

Background

Jensen Huang admitted on 8 November 2026 to having been “unfaithful” to his wife, following reports of his relationship with Alice Huang. On 11 November, US media reported a second alleged relationship with an Nvidia executive.

He resigned the following day. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress was named interim chief executive.

The US Senate Banking Committee has asked him to appear at a public hearing on 3 December 2026, and three US House committee chairmen have requested a closed-door interview on 1 December. Both have warned of subpoenas.

US Attorney General Todd Blanche said on 12 November that the Justice Department had not yet drawn any conclusions about whether Alice Huang engaged in espionage. China has rejected the allegations.

In Singapore, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on 12 November that Alice Huang had been investigated over possible offences linked to Megaspeed’s server purchases, but “was not investigated for espionage”. She was barred from re-entering Singapore in February 2026.