Elon Musk backs petition to reinstate Jensen Huang as Nvidia CEO as employees demand his return

Elon Musk has backed a petition to reinstate Jensen Huang as Nvidia CEO, adding his voice to growing calls for the AI chip giant’s longtime leader to return just one day after his shock resignation.

In a post on X Friday afternoon, Musk wrote:

“A petition is underway to reinstate Jensen, and I’m signing it too.”

The statement came in response to a post by X user Yun-Ta Tsai, who urged Nvidia engineers to take matters into their own hands if they wanted Huang back.

“If NVIDIA employees want Jensen back, they should start with ‘NVIDIA is nothing without its people’ – resign and chill,” Tsai wrote.

Tsai argued that experienced GPU engineers are difficult to replace, even compared with machine learning engineers, and that employees ultimately determine the company’s future through the technology they build.

“Engineers should take their destiny into their own hands if they love the company,” Tsai added. “They shape and deliver the company mission, not the boards.”

@yunta_tsai A petition is underway to reinstate Jensen and I’m signing it too

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2026

Musk stopped short of endorsing employee resignations. Instead, he pointed to an ongoing petition and publicly committed to signing it, adding another prominent technology executive to the growing debate over Nvidia’s leadership.

His post quickly gained traction, attracting more than 739,000 views and 39,000 likes in an early screenshot.

The exchange comes amid a leadership crisis at Nvidia following Huang’s abrupt departure on November 12.

Nvidia confirmed Thursday that Huang had resigned as president, CEO, and board member, effective immediately. The company appointed longtime Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO while its board searches for a permanent successor.

Huang’s resignation followed revelations about multiple extramarital relationships, including allegations involving a woman suspected by U.S. officials of having ties to Chinese intelligence. Huang acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife, but the intelligence-related allegations remain unresolved.

His departure has raised questions about Nvidia’s future without the executive who co-founded the company in 1993 and spent more than three decades building it into the dominant supplier of AI computing hardware.

Nvidia Employees Rally Behind Huang as Musk Joins Calls for His Return

Musk’s public endorsement follows reports of growing employee support for Huang’s reinstatement.

According to WIRED, an internal Nvidia discussion urging the board to consider employee sentiment drew more than 1,600 comments, most of which supported Huang’s return.

The discussion began before Huang’s resignation, when a longtime engineer urged the board to consult employees before making a final decision. It later became a forum for employees to advocate for his reinstatement.

The growing support highlights an unusual challenge for Nvidia’s board: balancing corporate governance concerns against employee loyalty to a founder whose leadership helped establish the company’s position in the AI industry.

Musk had already expressed admiration for Huang earlier in the week.

When an X user suggested that Musk hire the Nvidia co-founder, he replied, “That would be an honor.”

His latest statement, however, signals support for Huang returning to Nvidia rather than joining one of Musk’s companies.

The development also raises a larger question about the influence of employees at technology companies whose success depends heavily on specialized engineering talent.

Nvidia’s dominance in AI chips rests on decades of hardware innovation, software development, and the expertise of engineers who helped build its computing ecosystem.

Losing key employees during a leadership dispute could create additional challenges for a company already facing uncertainty over its next CEO.

Still, Musk did not identify the petition he intends to sign, and no verified public count of signatures is associated with his statement. The internal Nvidia discussion reported by WIRED does not establish that employees have signed a separate formal petition.

Nvidia has not announced any plans to reverse Huang’s resignation.

For now, Musk’s intervention adds a new dimension to the controversy: a public debate over whether Nvidia’s board should reconsider its decision as employees push for the return of the executive who helped build the company.