100,000 Signatures and Counting
A petition to reinstate Jensen Huang as chief executive of Nvidia has passed 100,000 signatures. More than 53,000 signers say they are Nvidia shareholders, and 6,200 say they are current or former Nvidia employees.
Elon Musk is the lead signatory. Fundstrat's Tom Lee and Shopify chief executive Tobi Lütke have also signed, giving the effort a profile well beyond a typical retail-investor petition. Earlier reporting indicated nearly 15% of Nvidia's workforce had signed within the first 24 hours.
A Board Under Pressure
Huang resigned as CEO, president, and board member effective immediately, announced Thursday, November 12, after the board accepted his resignation on November 11, according to the company's 8-K filing. The exit ended a 33-year run and followed a board investigation and reports about his relationship with a second employee. CFO Colette Kress is serving as interim CEO while keeping the CFO role, and Harvey C. Jones has become board chair.
The board has not commented on the petition. Supporters argue the evidence around Huang remains inconclusive, a view echoed publicly by senior US intelligence and law enforcement officials who have suggested the alleged spy-affair evidence is not settled. Whether a petition changes a board's position is doubtful, but the scale of it, spanning shareholders, employees, and prominent outside executives, keeps the story in front of the company days before a critical earnings report.
Options and Market Impact
Nvidia closed November 12 down 4.34% at $166.19 after trading as low as $148.80 intraday, leaving it about 31% below its October 6 peak of $239.24. The petition is a sentiment gauge more than a tradable event: sustained public pressure raises the odds of board communication, and any statement, in either direction, would be a headline risk for the stock.
The bigger event is Tuesday, November 17, when Nvidia reports third-quarter earnings with Kress leading the call. Options markets are pricing a large move, and flow into the print will show whether traders see the petition campaign as noise or as an early signal that the leadership story is not finished. Peers like Advanced Micro Devices will trade in sympathy with whatever Nvidia delivers.
Bottom Line
More than 100,000 people, including over 53,000 shareholders and Elon Musk as lead signatory, want Jensen Huang back at Nvidia. The board has said nothing, and earnings on November 17 will matter more than the signature count. Follow the flow on these names and the rest of the market with Unusual Whales. Create a free account here to start conquering the market with Unusual Whales.