Musk says he'll sign petition to bring Jensen Huang back as Nvidia eyes Arm's Rene Haas
The statement adds a prominent voice to a fast-moving succession question. Nvidia has not announced a permanent successor. Its board has said that it is still selecting a search firm, and the Financial Times has reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that the board has approached Rene Haas, chief executive of Arm, as a potential candidate. Reuters could not independently verify the report, and the board has said that speculation about individual candidates is premature.
A resignation after thirty-three years
Huang resigned on 12 November 2026 as president, chief executive and director of Nvidia, effective immediately, after thirty-three years at the company. Colette Kress, the chief financial officer, was named interim chief executive and retains the chief financial officer role. Harvey Jones was named the first board chair in the history of the company.
Nvidia reports earnings for the third quarter of fiscal 2027 on 17 November, with an all-hands meeting led by Kress the following morning. The earnings report will be the first public test of the company under interim leadership.
The background to the resignation has been reported in part, and the full record remains incomplete. Huang admitted in a memorandum dated 8 November that he was "unfaithful to my wife". Reports have described relationships with Alice Huang and Kimberly Powell, and Reuters has reported a third. One allegation, that a woman involved had links to Chinese intelligence as suspected by United States intelligence officials, has not been established as fact, and the allegations around the resignation have not all been independently established. None of those allegations is presented here as verified.
The petition and its claims
The petition at the centre of the campaign is hosted at standwithjensen.com. It is volunteer-run and is not endorsed by Nvidia or by Huang. According to the Times of India, it had gathered more than 43,000 signatures as of the morning of 14 November India Standard Time.
The petition site also publishes a live counter broken down by self-declared affiliation. According to the petition site's live counter, the breakdown was 2,980 current Nvidia employees, 454 former employees, 24,097 shareholders and 15,517 supporters. Those affiliations are self-reported and unverified, and the figures are the petition's own accounting rather than confirmed totals.
The letter frames its argument in terms of process rather than absolution. It states: "Thirty-three years of leadership do not place anyone above accountability. But accountability requires evidence, a fair hearing, and a reasoned decision". The letter makes three demands: that Huang be reinstated, or that a specific evidence-based reason be given for not reinstating him; that an independent investigation be conducted with a disclosed scope and timeline, giving Huang a fair chance to respond; and that a timely public explanation be provided.
Other named signatories include Tim Sweeney, Garry Tan, Amjad Masad, Aidan Gomez and Gavin Baker. The petition remains a volunteer initiative without corporate backing.
The board and the reported approach to Rene Haas
According to the Financial Times, which reported on 13 November citing people familiar with the matter, Nvidia's board approached Haas as a potential permanent successor, among several candidates, with no guarantee that he will be offered the position or that he would accept it. The report has not been independently verified by Reuters.
The board's own public position is more restrained. It has said that it is "in the process of selecting a search firm" and has "not formally engaged any candidate". It added: "Any speculation regarding individual candidates, whether internal or external, is premature". On the available record, Haas has not been confirmed as a successor, has not been described by the board as a frontrunner, and has not been reported to have received or accepted an offer.
Haas leads Arm, whose chip architecture underpins much of the mobile and data-centre processor market. The evidence available at the time of writing supports only the Financial Times report, attributed to unnamed people familiar with the matter, and not a confirmed appointment.
Employee sentiment inside Nvidia
Inside the company, sentiment appears to favour Huang's return. According to Wired, a longtime Nvidia engineer posted in an internal "suggestion box" forum urging the board to weigh employee sentiment, and the post drew more than 1,600 comments, most backing Huang's return. Wired reported that it could not find a single employee post supporting his exit.
The internal response is consistent with the petition's framing of the issue as one of process and evidence rather than loyalty alone. It does not determine the outcome. The board has given no indication that employee sentiment will decide the appointment.
A secondary voice from Washington
A separate intervention came from the President of the United States, who wrote on Truth Social on 12 November: "NOW THAT Nvidia CEO JENSEN HUANG, who has done a fantastic job, has resigned, there is only one man to take his place - TIM COOK of Apple. A Legend replaces a Legend!"
The post was dated 12 November, not 13 November. Cook stepped down as chief executive of Apple on 1 September and now serves as executive chairman. There is no indication that Nvidia has chosen Cook, and no reporting suggests that he is a candidate under consideration. The post is a public suggestion rather than evidence of any selection process.
Why the succession matters
Nvidia occupies a central position in the artificial intelligence industry. Its graphics processing units power the training and operation of the large models built by the major technology companies, making it one of the most closely watched companies in the world. A change of chief executive at such a moment carries consequences for investors, customers, employees and competitors.
The succession also raises a governance question beyond one company. The petition and the internal employee response both press the board to explain its reasoning and to show that its decision followed a fair process. The board has so far offered only a brief statement. Whether it provides a fuller explanation, and when, will shape how the episode is understood.
What happens next
Three events will clarify the position. The first is the earnings report on 17 November, where Kress will address investors as interim chief executive. The second is the all-hands meeting the following morning. The third is the board's selection of a search firm and the formal start of the search.
Until those steps are taken, the public record supports only the following: Huang has resigned; Kress is interim chief executive; the board has not formally engaged any candidate; a volunteer petition seeks Huang's reinstatement and has gathered more than 43,000 signatures according to the Times of India; Musk has said that he will sign a petition; and the Financial Times has reported, citing unnamed sources, that the board approached Haas.
Sources: Financial Times, via The Statesman, Economic Times and Reuters; Indian Express; Times of India; NDTV; Reuters; Wired, via Times of India and Economic Times.
