Elon Musk says it would be an 'honour' to hire Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, who may be headed for an ouster
As Jensen Huang, the beleaguered CEO of Nvidia, faces being ousted, another big name in technology appears to be ready to scoop him up.
On early Thursday morning (Nov 12), a finance blog called Zerohedge addressed X owner Elon Musk, appealing to him to “please hire Jensen.
Mr Musk replied, “That would be an honor.”
Mr Huang, a Taiwanese-American electrical engineer, co-founded Nvidia in 1993. The company is now counted among the Big Tech players, due to chips, graphics cards, and software used all across the globe.
Nvidia, widely considered to be the backbone of the AI boom, is said to be worth US$4.19 trillion (S$5.38 trillion).
As the company’s fortunes rose, Mr Huang’s prominence also rose, and he has enjoyed a close relationship with US President Donald Trump.
On Oct 29, The New York Times reported that Mr Huang had been targeted by an executive at a Singapore-based data centre, Megaspeed, who was spying for Beijing, according to intelligence agencies in the United States, which had investigated
The executive, Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, developed a close relationship with the Nvidia chief. Ms Huang had been investigated by US intelligence agencies due to national security concerns.
Earlier this week, Mr Huang admitted to having had an affair with Ms Huang and publicly apologised to his wife. In a Nov 8 email to employees, Huang accepted responsibility for hurting his family and damaging the trust of those closest to him.
However, on Wednesday (Nov 11), the NYT reported that Mr Huang was already under scrutiny in the company because of an alleged relationship with one of Nvidia’s executives, who, like him, is also married. In May, he and Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of health care, were captured on video showing affection to one another during a company conference in California.
Newsletter
Get updates straight to your inbox
Nvidia’s stock has taken a plunge in the wake of the scandal surrounding its co-founder. Its stock has fallen by about 8%, which has meant a wipeout of around US$500 billion (S$643 billion) in market value. Its shares, which were worth around US$243 (S$312) in October, have fallen to under US$160 (S$206).
The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov 11 that Nvidia’s board called a meeting to discuss Mr Huang’s future at the company, though no announcement has since been made. /TISG