Two investors whose funds held about $2.1 billion of Nvidia stock in June have asked its board not to rush into naming a new chief executive, and to keep Jensen Huang’s possible return open. Brad Gerstner, chief executive of Altimeter Capital, and Gavin Baker, managing partner and chief investment officer of Atreides Management, made their joint letter public on Friday.
In it, they urge the board to “pursue a slow, measured, and deliberate process regarding the future leadership of Nvidia that leaves all options on the table, including the potential return of Jensen Huang”. Nvidia has not responded publicly to the letter.
The request came a day after Huang resigned as president, chief executive and director, effective immediately, while an investigation into his conduct was under way. Chief financial officer Colette Kress is now interim chief executive, and former Synopsys chief executive Harvey Jones became the board’s first chair, according to Nvidia’s announcement and its filing with US regulators. The letter also differs sharply from the viral “employee letter” that spread the same day, which copied OpenAI’s 2023 staff letter almost word for word. This one was published by the two investors who signed it.
The letter asks Nvidia’s board for time and accepts its final say
The letter runs to four short paragraphs, and most of it argues against speed. “There are more questions about recent events than answers,” the two investors write. They say the board “should avoid a rush to replace Jensen that undermines and thwarts the best interests of shareholders”. In their view, the company “will be capably led in the interim by Colette Kress and team”, which means the board has time to get the decision right.
Gerstner and Baker also accept that the decision belongs to the board. “If after all the facts are known the Board decides that it is not in shareholders’ best interest to have Jensen Huang back as CEO, that is the Board’s prerogative,” the letter says. They add that Huang, as founder and long-time leader, “has earned the right for a deliberate process that avoids any needless rush to replace him before all the facts are known”. The letter does not dispute the reports about Huang’s conduct, and it does not ask for him to be reinstated now.
Some viral summaries said the investors wanted “a more thorough investigation” before any decision. The letter does not use that phrase, and it does not mention the review led by former federal prosecutor Joon Kim and Wachtell Lipton, which the board’s independent directors commissioned before Huang left. It asks only that no successor be chosen before “all the facts are known”, and it sets no timetable. The board has not said when the review is expected to finish.
Two funds holding 0.04% of Nvidia cannot force the board’s hand
In voting terms, the two funds are small holders. Altimeter held about 9.4 million Nvidia shares at the end of June and Atreides about 1.25 million, according to figures from their quarterly 13F filings reported by FourWeekMBA. Together those stakes were worth roughly $2.1 billion at the time, or about 0.04% of Nvidia’s shares. Huang himself owns around 3.6% of the company.
Under Nvidia’s bylaws, the board appoints and removes the chief executive, and a majority of its directors can dismiss one with or without cause. Shareholders elect the directors at the annual meeting. Between meetings, they can call a special meeting only if they own at least 15% of the shares “continuously for at least one year”, according to the company’s 2026 proxy statement. Altimeter and Atreides are nowhere near that threshold, and adding Huang’s own stake would still leave any group far short of it. The letter is a request, and its authors present it as one.
The board’s own search is at an early stage. Nvidia’s board told CNBC this week that it was “in the process of selecting a search firm” and had “not formally engaged any potential candidates”. Reports have named Arm chief executive Rene Haas as one of the executives approached, while Nvidia has called speculation about candidates “premature”, according to Bloomberg. The board has said it “will consider internal and external candidates”, a field TalkEsport examined when it looked at who could replace Huang.
Gerstner and Baker add an investor voice to pressure from staff and Musk
The letter adds shareholders to a campaign that has been building inside and around Nvidia since Huang left. Inside the company, a post on Nvidia’s internal suggestion box urging the board to share its findings has drawn more than 1,600 comments, according to internal messages reviewed by WIRED. Before he resigned, 88% of Nvidia staff who answered a Blind survey said he should stay as chief executive. That support falls well short of the signed staff revolt the viral letter claimed, although it shows where many employees stand.
Outside the company, Elon Musk has said that hiring Huang “would be an honour”, and he has since backed an online petition called Stand with Jensen. The petition asks the board to restore Huang as chief executive until the investigation is complete, and to publish the inquiry’s scope and expected completion date. That goes further than Gerstner and Baker, who asked only that his return remain possible. Musk said he intended to sign it, and an entry bearing his name later appeared on the site, although the petition does not explain how it verifies signatures or say who runs it.
Nvidia’s next scheduled update for investors comes when it reports third-quarter results on 17 November. Kress has said her focus as interim chief executive is on customers, partners and shareholders. The board has not said whether it will address the leadership search on that call. The results will be Nvidia’s first since Huang’s resignation.
