Two of Nvidia’s largest shareholders have urged the board not to rule out Jensen Huang’s return as it considers who should lead the company permanently. In a letter made public Friday, Altimeter Capital’s Brad Gerstner and Atreides Management’s Gavin Baker called for a slow, deliberate succession process, saying a rushed replacement could harm shareholders’ interests.

The intervention gives the board a clear request from major investors: keep Huang’s reinstatement under consideration. SEC filings cited in the report show Altimeter held 9.4 million Nvidia shares, valued at nearly $1.9 billion on June 30, while Atreides held 1.2 million shares worth about $250 million.

A succession under scrutiny

Huang resigned as chief executive on Thursday after acknowledging an extramarital relationship with Alice Huang, a Chinese citizen, and apologizing to his wife and children. Nvidia chief financial officer Colette Kress is serving as interim CEO while the board looks for a permanent successor.

The relationship has drawn congressional attention. Huang has accepted a closed-door appearance before Congress ahead of Thanksgiving and is scheduled to testify under oath before the Senate Banking Committee on December 3.

The espionage allegation involving Alice Huang remains unresolved. The New York Times reported that a classified memo overseen by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in May warned that Beijing had recruited her. The report also said the assessment’s reliability was being questioned. Former White House AI adviser David Sacks challenged the espionage account, while CNN, citing intelligence sources, reported that investigators had not reached a definitive conclusion. Nvidia has said there is no indication that trade secrets or national security were compromised.

Congressional questions and reported outbursts

Lawmakers are also seeking details of Nvidia’s dealings with Megaspeed, a Singapore-based AI firm led by Alice Huang. The New York Post reported that US officials have long suspected Megaspeed of involvement in smuggling advanced AI chips to China; the company has denied wrongdoing.

Separately, the New York Post has reported allegations from company insiders about Huang’s treatment of executives. Sources told the paper that at a closed-door meeting in February, attended by more than 30 executives, Huang told Jay Puri, then the company’s executive vice president for worldwide field operations, that he hoped Puri would die. The paper also reported that Huang threw a water bottle at a senior executive at Nvidia’s Santa Clara headquarters. The Wall Street Journal reported that, at an August meeting, Huang called then-CFO Kress a deer in the headlights.

The shareholder letter does not resolve the succession question. It asks the board to leave Huang’s return on the table as it considers its next leader; his scheduled Senate testimony on December 3 is another upcoming development in the scrutiny surrounding Nvidia.