Jensen Huang petition to bring him back tops 100,000 signatures

The Jensen Huang petition, an open letter called “Stand with Jensen” that asks Nvidia to bring him back as CEO, had more than 108,000 signatures by the afternoon of Saturday, November 14, 2026 (according to Business Insider). Elon Musk is one of the signers. Nvidia’s board of directors has not responded to the letter in public.

What does the Jensen Huang petition ask for?

The letter is addressed to the board of directors and makes three demands:

1. Reinstate Huang as CEO for the duration of an independent investigation.
2. Disclose the scope and timeline of that investigation.
3. Give Huang a real chance to answer the allegations before any final decision is made.

The organizers argue that the board got rid of its chief with no investigation and no “meaningful due process”. They also write that nobody has shown them evidence for the espionage allegation, and that Huang deserves “due process, not mob justice”.

On one point their argument is strong. On Thursday, US Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department had not determined whether Alice Huang was a spy. The allegation that started the Huang and Chinese intelligence story therefore remains unconfirmed.

The claim that he was “removed” holds up less well. Formally Huang resigned on his own, as I wrote in the post on his departure from Nvidia, although the board had met the day before precisely to consider removing him.

Who signed the letter?

The list includes more than 58,000 shareholders, more than 5,600 current Nvidia employees and over a thousand former ones (Business Insider’s figures from Saturday).

Elon Musk wrote on X on November 13 that a petition to reinstate Jensen was under way and that he was signing it too. On Saturday he added that without Huang “critical deals will be lost” (via CNBC). Garry Tan, the head of Y Combinator, and Blake Scholl of Boom Supersonic signed as well, and Replit’s Amjad Masad promoted the petition on X.

Treat the numbers with some caution. Signers state for themselves whether they are employees or shareholders, and nobody checks. The organizers admitted on Saturday that they are removing fake entries, and the list has included “Tim Cruise, Hollywood actor” and “Xi Jingping” (typo and all).

Something else says more about the mood inside the company. A post in a similar tone appeared on Nvidia’s internal portal, where employees submit questions and suggestions. Wired counted 1,600 comments under it on Thursday, and an employee who spoke to Business Insider said the number has more than doubled since.

How have investors and the board reacted?

Brad Gerstner of Altimeter Capital and Gavin Baker of Atreides Management published a separate letter to the board on X on Friday. According to CNBC, their funds held Nvidia shares worth about $2.13 billion in total as of June 30 (Altimeter 9.4 million shares, Atreides 1.2 million).

Their request is more cautious than the petition. They don’t want Huang reinstated immediately. They want a “slow, measured, and deliberate process” for choosing a successor, one that doesn’t close the door on his return. They also write that the company is in good hands under Colette Kress.

To me this letter matters more than the signature count. It is backed by stakes disclosed in SEC filings, and the board can grant a request not to rush without walking anything back.

For now the board is silent. Nvidia has said only (according to Bloomberg, which we know second-hand) that it has not begun formal talks with any candidate. The Financial Times, meanwhile, reported that the board has approached Rene Haas, the chief executive of Arm. Arm shares fell almost 10% on Friday before recovering part of the loss.

Can Huang come back the way Sam Altman did?

This is the comparison made most often, for example by Moneywise: Altman returned to OpenAI roughly five days after he was fired in 2023.

There are plenty of differences. Altman was fired by his board, while Huang formally left on his own. Nvidia’s board has not announced the end of its investigation into his relationship with Alice Huang, and Huang admitted the affair in a letter to employees. And the petition’s signatures are entries in an online form that nobody has verified.

The first concrete signal comes on Tuesday, November 17, when Nvidia reports quarterly results. It will be the first analyst call without Huang, and questions about the petition and the investors’ letter will be hard to avoid.

FAQ

How many signatures does the “Stand with Jensen” petition have?

More than 108,000 as of the afternoon of Saturday, November 14, 2026 (according to Business Insider). Who counts as an employee or a shareholder is self-declared, and the organizers are removing fake entries.

Did Elon Musk sign the petition?

Yes. On November 13 he wrote on X that he was signing it.

Has Nvidia’s board responded to the petition?

Not publicly. Nvidia has said only that it is not yet holding formal talks with CEO candidates.

Who is running Nvidia now?

Colette Kress, previously the chief financial officer, has been interim CEO since November 12.