From WIRED · Lauren Goode · · 1m 40s
Jensen Huang's control crumbles
The Nvidia CEO who built a fairy tale around himself has resigned, shattering the myth of his omniscience.
In brief
The Nvidia CEO who built a fairy tale around himself has resigned, shattering the myth of his omniscience. Jensen Huang resigned from Nvidia after his carefully controlled narrative unraveled, ending the founder fairy tale he spent decades constructing. Originally reported by WIRED.
The interview that revealed control
In July 2024, Jensen Huang's daughter Madison led prep calls for a SIGGRAPH interview, directing questions and suggesting when to reference slides. The CEO wanted to control the narrative, not answer it.
Huang built his legend on story
Huang told the story of an immigrant founder, underdog, wife guy, scrappy startup founder who dined at Denny's early on. He even tattooed an abstract version of the Nvidia logo on his arm.
Strategy and culture are storytelling
In January 2024, Huang said he admired Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen for loving storytelling. Strategy setting is storytelling. Culture building is storytelling, Huang explained.
“Strategy setting is storytelling. Culture building is storytelling.”
The flat organization myth
Huang ran what he called a flat organization with a few dozen top executives reporting to him, sometimes reported as sixty people but closer to thirty-five by insiders. He participated in every significant meeting.
Control and knowledge cannot coexist
A former employee said Huang cannot simultaneously have known every element of Nvidia's business and then feign ignorance about where chips fell, figuratively and literally. His lapses in judgment followed.
The narrative ends in resignation
Huang's apparent lapses in judgment led him to resign from the company he coaxed into existence. The mythos of the ever-prescient founder has shattered. It is not the ending he would have chosen.
In short
Jensen Huang resigned from Nvidia after his carefully controlled narrative unraveled, ending the founder fairy tale he spent decades constructing.
