Musk Says Hiring Jensen Huang Would Be 'an Honour' as Nvidia Board Reportedly Weighs His Ouster

On X, a user wrote a short plea to Elon Musk: "Elon please hire Jensen." Musk answered within moments. "That would be an honor," he wrote. The exchange came as Nvidia's board of directors was reported to be preparing to decide whether its longtime chief executive, Jensen Huang, should stay in the job.

The report comes from The Wall Street Journal, which says the board is planning to remove Huang from leadership over his personal relationships. Among them is an affair with a woman identified as a suspected Chinese spy. Hindustan Times, relaying the Journal's account, says the board is preparing to meet to settle Huang's future at the company. The outcome of that meeting had not been reported at the time of writing.

Huang himself has already spoken, at least in part. On November 8 he sent an apology email to Nvidia employees admitting to the affair, which the coverage ties to Alice Huang. "I owe my family and all of you an apology," he wrote. "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry." He said he had let his family down and damaged the life he built with them, that he was taking full responsibility, and that he was ready to accept criticism.

The email spoke to several audiences. To his wife, Lori, and his family, he wrote that he loved them, that an apology could not undo what he had done, and that he hoped the family would heal and that he could earn back their trust over time. To colleagues, some of whom he has worked beside for decades, as well as the board, partners and shareholders, he wrote that they deserved better from him. Leading Nvidia, he said, is the privilege of his life, and he acknowledged he had fallen short of his responsibility. He said he was fully committed to the company and would work to regain confidence.

Musk's remark is not his first public show of support. After Huang admitted the affair, Musk agreed with a post by Shaun Maguire, a partner at Sequoia, that backed the Nvidia co-founder. His latest comment is a lighter touch, a reply to a stranger's suggestion, but it places one of the most prominent figures in technology publicly on Huang's side while the board deliberates.

One matter remains unaddressed. Huang has acknowledged the affair with Alice Huang but has not responded to rumours of a separate alleged relationship with Kimberly Powell, an 18-year Nvidia veteran who reported directly to him. The coverage describes this only as a rumour, and nothing in it confirms the claim.

The coverage also notes that Huang's two children, Madison and Spencer Huang, each earn more than $1 million at Nvidia. His net worth is put at $155 billion, which would make him the tenth richest person in the world. What to watch is the board's decision and whether the governance pressure on the company grows, since the reporting so far rests on the Journal's account of a meeting that had yet to take place.