#JensenHuangResigns

The $2.13 Billion Question NVIDIA’s Board Can’t Answer With a Press Release

Two of NVIDIA’s largest shareholders just did something Wall Street rarely sees: they asked the board to slow down.

Brad Gerstner of Altimeter Capital and Gavin Baker of Atreides Management—holding a combined $2.13 billion in NVDA stock—sent a letter urging the board not to rush a permanent CEO appointment and to keep the door open for Jensen Huang’s return. Notably, they did not demand his immediate reinstatement. They called for a “slow, measured, and deliberate process” because, in their words, “there are more questions about recent events than answers”.

That distinction matters. This isn’t a coup or a proxy fight. It’s a plea for institutional patience at the exact moment NVIDIA faces its first real leadership vacuum in 33 years.

Huang resigned on November 12 amid reports of personal relationships and an independent board investigation. Colette Kress, the long-time CFO, stepped in as interim CEO—a safe, steady hand. But safe and steady is not the same as founder-mode.

And that is the unspoken fear lurking beneath the letter: NVIDIA’s moat was never just its chips. It was Jensen Huang’s Rolodex, his handshake deals, his ability to act as Silicon Valley’s central banker for AI startups. Elon Musk himself noted that “many of those deals were a handshake with Jensen, not a written contract”. A new CEO—no matter how competent—cannot simply inherit those relationships.

Which brings us to next week.

NVIDIA is scheduled to report fiscal Q3 2027 earnings on Tuesday, November 17—just five days after Huang’s exit. The numbers will almost certainly be strong. The AI buildout has not paused for a boardroom drama.

But the call will be different. Kress will have to answer questions she has never faced before: Are supply commitments still secure? Are hyperscalers hedging? Has the “Jensen premium” in the stock begun to unwind?

The stock has already fallen nearly 24% since late October. Some of that is macro. Some of it is the leadership shock. The earnings report will be the first clean test of whether NVIDIA’s institution can carry the weight its founder once did.

Gerstner and Baker are not asking for a comeback. They are asking for time—time for the facts to settle, for the board to investigate, and for shareholders to see whether the machine Huang built can run without its architect.

Next week’s report won’t answer that question. But it will tell us how much time the board actually has. #ShareWeekly $NVDA ‌