Jensen Huang told NVIDIA exec Jay Puri 'I hope you die' in front of 30 executives. Here's what happened

Amid spy allegations and affair scandals, former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reportedly lashed out at senior executive Jay Puri during a closed-door meeting attended by more than 30 employees, according to a New York Post report.

“I hope you get the flu and I hope it gets worse,” Huang told Puri. “I hope you die and put us all out of our misery.”

“It’s very typical for Jensen to yell at people, but when he said that specific thing to Jay, it was extremely tense and quiet,” one of the sources said. “Everybody was a little bit shocked.”


Read more: ‘I’m a piece of sh--’: Jensen Huang’s last hours as Nvidia CEO

A similar account was shared by Stephen Witt, author of The Thinking Machine, a biography of Huang, in a New York Times article. Witt wrote that Huang often projected a humble image by praising employees, recalling his days as a dishwasher and leaving large tips during visits to Denny’s. However, Witt claimed this was all “to cloak his arrogance.”

“He had little tolerance for disagreement and almost no capacity for open discourse. When you contradicted him, even over the most trivial matter, it was like lighting a fuse. Stick to your position, and soon he exploded, screaming at you for your idiocy,” Witt wrote.

Read more: Ex-Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang misled top lawyer on affair with Chinese businesswoman

Who is Jay Puri?

Jay Puri joined Nvidia in 2005 as senior vice president of worldwide sales. He later rose to the position of executive vice president of worldwide field operations, which he held until stepping down from the executive role.

Prior to Nvidia, Puri spent 22 years at Sun Microsystems, serving in various senior positions across sales, marketing and general management. His roles included senior vice president of the Asia-Pacific Group, vice president of worldwide sales for software and technology, president of Nihon Sun KK and vice president of worldwide product marketing.

Earlier in his career, he also worked with Hewlett-Packard, Booz Allen & Hamilton and Texas Instruments, where he gained experience in product development, marketing and management consulting.

Huang gets support online

More than 1.32 lakh people have signed an online petition urging NVIDIA's board to reinstate co-founder Jensen Huang as chief executive, demanding an independent investigation and an explanation of the circumstances surrounding his sudden departure after 33 years leading the chipmaker.

The petition, hosted on a campaign website titled 'Stand with Jensen', had recorded 133,326 names, according to its displayed counter. The signatories included 6,667 current NVIDIA employees, 1,251 former employees, 72,265 shareholders and 53,143 other supporters.

The open letter calls on the company's board to bring Huang back while an independent investigation establishes the facts, unless it can provide clear evidence that his removal serves the company's interests.

"33 years of leadership do not place anyone above accountability. But accountability requires evidence, a fair hearing, and a reasoned decision," the letter stated.

The campaign has also attracted support from prominent technology industry figures, including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Replit CEO Amjad Masad and Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney. Musk publicly confirmed his support for the petition on social media. The petition is an independent campaign and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NVIDIA or Huang.