Exclusive | How ex-Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang threw tantrums in the office, dressed down tech execs: I hope you die
Ousted Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was prone to wild temper tantrums at the office, according to company insiders — cruelly dressing down employees and even once hurling a water bottle at a top executive in a fit of rage, The Post has learned.The 63-year-old chip magnate famously cultivated an affable, laid-back public persona, sporting black leather jackets and doling out TV interviews about his humble beginnings washing dishes and cleaning toilets.But as Huang pushed to relentlessly grow Nvidia’s business, employees lived in fear of their boss skewering them with vicious outbursts at marathon meetings in front of their peers, according to sources close to the company.Last February, at a closed-door powwow with more than 30 company executives in attendance, Huang zeroed in on Jay Puri, Nvidia’s then-executive vice president of worldwide field operations, sources told The Post.“I hope you get the flu and I hope it gets worse,” Huang told Puri in front of stunned onlookers — including Puri, who endured the sudden attack in silence, according to a source familiar to the incident.“I hope you die and put us all out of our misery,” Huang added.
At the time, Puri oversaw Nvidia’s sales and business development operations.He has since transitioned to a role as senior adviser for Nvidia.
It couldn’t immediately be learned what had been at issue during the meeting.“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.”Puri couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.The confrontation with Puri was part of a pattern with Huang – who oversaw an unusual corporate structure where more than 60 of Nvidia’s top executives reported directly to him.Indeed, Huang’s outbursts are so well-known at Nvidia that some employees have expressed surprise that they didn’t leak prior to his public downfall, one source said.
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