By Amara Osei

More than 1,600 comments have accumulated on an internal Nvidia suggestion-box post asking directors to weigh employee sentiment, according to Wired. The board now faces calls from some employees to restore Jensen Huang as chief executive after his Thursday resignation.

Why did Huang resign as the investigation began?

Huang resigned after reports of extramarital affairs. One report concerned a woman whom US intelligence officials suspect of working as an agent for Beijing’s spy agencies. On Nov. 8, the 63-year-old admitted infidelity in a note to employees, the same day the board opened an independent investigation.

Many employees had assumed the board would complete its investigation before any significant shake-up. Huang departed as the probe was getting under way. Staff are now looking for the reasons behind his exit and the results of the board’s review.

Who leads Nvidia during the leadership search?

Nvidia named Colette Kress, its Chief Financial Officer, as interim chief executive, or temporary replacement. The company also appointed Harvey Jones as the board’s first chair. Jones previously served as chief executive of Synopsys.

The board is searching for a permanent chief executive and will consider internal and external candidates. Its investigation into Huang’s conduct continues alongside that search, with no public explanation yet for the abrupt sequence of events.

What are employees asking directors to do?

A longtime engineer submitted the suggestion-box post before Huang resigned, asking the board to weigh employee sentiment before acting. The post also requested disclosure of the investigation’s findings to staff. It formally sought employees’ opinions on Huang’s future as chief executive.

A number of the 1,600-plus replies urged directors to restore him. One anonymous commenter wrote: “If you believe in the mission, bring back THE boss,” according to Wired. Other respondents argued that people make mistakes and Huang deserved a second chance for the good he had done.

An employee with roughly two years at Nvidia, who lacked permission to speak on the record, said the wish for reinstatement was widespread. “Nvidia is Nvidia because of Jensen,” the employee said, according to Wired. The employee added that the company would struggle without its founder and that directors should reinstate him.

Within hours of the resignation, about two dozen employees voiced support for Huang on LinkedIn. Wired found no public messages from staff at the chipmaker welcoming his departure.

How did supporters press for an explanation?

One employee emailed the whole company to press for openness about why Huang had departed. The staffer stood by Huang while making that appeal. The employee argued that supporting fairness did not require distancing the company from a leader who had had such an impact on the workforce.

Wired could not reach that employee. The engineer who wrote the suggestion-box post also declined to comment. Neither Nvidia nor board chair Jones responded to requests for comment from Wired.

The board’s two tasks remain the investigation and the permanent-chief-executive search. More than 1,600 comments and roughly two dozen public expressions of support have placed employee sentiment before directors, who have not announced a response.