Elon Musk said on 11 November that hiring Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang “would be an honor”. Musk posted the reply on X under a post from the ZeroHedge account that read “Elon please hire Jensen”. He did not name a role or a company. Neither Musk, Huang nor Nvidia has said that any talks have taken place.
Musk’s reply came on the same day that reports said Nvidia’s board was preparing to meet and discuss Huang’s future at the company. Some of those reports said directors were considering removing him. Nvidia has not announced any change to its leadership. The board has not commented publicly on the reports, and Huang remains chief executive.
Musk runs Tesla, SpaceX and xAI. Several of his companies, including Tesla and xAI, use Nvidia’s AI computing hardware. His reply is not a job offer. Musk has not said which company Huang might join, or in what role. Huang has not responded to the post.
Nvidia shares closed at $173.73 on 11 November. They then fell $14.95, or 8.61%, to $158.78 in after-hours trading as the reports about the board spread. Nvidia has not said whether its directors met that day, or what they discussed.
Musk has commented on Huang before. Earlier this month his “you’re an asset” joke about Huang spread online, and we traced how Musk’s joke became a meme. We have also looked at who could replace Jensen Huang at Nvidia.
Nvidia’s board puts Jensen Huang under review
Huang, 63, told staff in an email on 8 November that he had had an extramarital affair. Nvidia’s board opened an investigation the same day, led by a committee of independent directors. It hired the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz on 10 November, as we covered in our report on the investigators leading the inquiry.
The relationship has been linked in media reports to Alice Huang, a former executive at Megaspeed, a large buyer of Nvidia equipment. Claims that she gathered information for China are unconfirmed. China’s foreign ministry has called the allegation “unsubstantiated”. No charges have been reported, and no US authority has published any finding.
Nvidia’s board said it had “no reason to believe” that company secrets or US national security had been compromised. Huang led his regular executive meeting on 9 November, as we covered in our report on his return to the office. US House members have asked him to testify on 18 November.
