Jensen Huang has lost the job he's held for 33 years. Elon Musk has already said what he'd think of having him.
Nividia's now former co-founder and CEO Huang preempted an explicitly public ouster vote by the board by resigning. However, Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX (SPCX) CEO Elon Musk is making it clear where he stands.
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Financial blog Zerohedge posted “Elon please hire Jensen” on X on Wednesday night. “That would be an honor,” Musk replied.
Musk replied hours after The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia's board was preparing to remove Huang. The board met late Wednesday to decide his future, and as of early Thursday, Huang had resigned. Nvidia shares fell more than 8% in after hours trading.
The pressure built fast. On Sunday, the board opened an independent investigation into reporting that Huang “has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort.” Huang acknowledged an affair in a message to employees the same day. On Wednesday, The New York Times reported a second relationship, this time with an Nvidia executive who reports directly to him.
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A Bromance Built On Chips
Musk's offer didn't come out of nowhere. Over the past year, the two men have tied their companies closer together.
In August, SpaceX announced that it is partnering with Nvidia to design the compute payload for Starmind AI1, the first satellite in its planned network of orbital AI data centers. SpaceX has applied to the Federal Communications Commission to launch up to 1 million Starmind satellites.
“Old friends are the best friends. Jensen rocks,” Musk wrote on X on Oct. 15. “The Star Mind computer being co-engineered by SpaceX and Nvidia is far better than almost anyone expects and will reach volume production next year.”
Huang Went From Skeptic to Believer
Huang has praised Musk just as warmly, especially about Terafab, the chip factory Tesla and SpaceX are building in Austin, Texas.
“If anybody could do it, he can,” Huang said at the All-In Summit in September. “We were on a flight together and we spent a lot of time talking about it. Once he decides to do something, it's hard to stop him. You can't discourage Elon, which is one of his superpowers.”
That was a turnaround. When Musk first floated a Tesla chip fab in November 2025, Huang said, “Building advanced chip manufacturing is extremely hard.”
Wall Street Is Already Running the Numbers
Nvidia has lost more than $450 billion in market value since the board announced its probe, according to CBS News. Bernstein cut the stock to “market perform” and lowered its price target to $200 from $400.
Before the resignation, Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives estimated Nvidia's fair value at $225 a share without Huang, compared with $300 if he stayed. That's well below the bullish targets Wall Street floated earlier this year.
The board has appointed Harvey C. Jones as chair, and Colette Kress, Nvidia's current executive vice president and chief financial officer, will serve as interim CEO. However, there has been no permanent successor announced. Bloomberg reported that it's working with an outside firm to identify possible replacements. Huang still owns a big stake in the company he built.
Plenty of CEOs would probably want Huang on their team. Musk just said it out loud while Nvidia's board was still deciding whether Huang keeps the job he's held since 1993.
On the date of publication, Caleb Naysmith did not directly have a position in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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