Elon Musk says hiring Jensen Huang “would be an honor”

Tesla and SpaceX head Elon Musk backed Nvidia head Jensen Huang, whose board of directors is preparing to oust him, according to the WSJ. Nvidia shares fell more than 8% after the reports.

Elon Musk publicly backed Nvidia head Jensen Huang, whose future is being decided at a meeting of the company's board of directors. Responding to a call from the financial blog Zerohedge — “Elon, hire Jensen” — Musk said: “It would be an honor,” CNBC reports.

Musk's remark came after The Wall Street Journal, citing informed sources, reported that Nvidia's board of directors was preparing to oust Huang. According to CNBC, the board meeting continued until Wednesday evening. Bloomberg writes that the board, together with an outside consulting firm, is selecting potential successors and considering appointing an interim CEO.

Дженсен Хуанг в штаб-квартире Nvidia (май 2026)

A week of crisis

The crisis began on Sunday, when Huang acknowledged in a letter to employees that he had cheated on his wife. “There is no excuse for my actions. I am very sorry,” he wrote. According to U.S. media, the woman is Alice Huang, the head of Singapore-based Megaspeed, a major Nvidia client. U.S. intelligence suspects her of working for Chinese intelligence services; Beijing rejects the allegations, while Huang himself says he knew nothing about her possible ties to the government of China.

The board of directors launched an independent investigation and brought in the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Taiwan, according to the BBC, revoked Alice Huang's permit to enter the island. A number of U.S. lawmakers, including Republican Senator Kevin Cramer, called on Huang to resign.

Дженсен Хуанг на сцене мероприятия Nvidia в Лондоне (2025)

Market prices in founder's departure

After the WSJ publication, Nvidia shares fell more than 8% in over-the-counter trading. According to Reuters calculations, if the decline holds, the company will lose about $600 billion in market value from the time the investigation was announced. “The market is beginning to price in Nvidia without its founder as the most likely scenario,” said Armina Rosenberg, a fund manager at Minotaur Capital.

Huang founded Nvidia in 1993 and has led it for more than 30 years; he has no obvious successor. Under the company's bylaws, its 11-member board can remove the CEO by a simple majority vote. U.S. President Donald Trump previously called Huang “a worthy person” and said he believed him.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Elon Musk says hiring Jensen Huang “would be an honor”

Tesla and SpaceX head Elon Musk backed Nvidia head Jensen Huang, whose board of directors is preparing to oust him, according to the WSJ. Nvidia shares fell more than 8% after the reports.