NVIDIA CEO Underscores Commitment to Invest in Mellanox Business

by Bob Sherbin

NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang today underscored his commitment to invest in Mellanox, the Israel-based high performance computing company that NVIDIA agreed to buy earlier this month for $6.9 billion.

In his first appearance in Israel since the acquisition was announced two weeks ago, Huang told a press conference at Mellanox’s headquarters in Yokniam, an hour north of Tel Aviv, that the two companies are fully complementary and without overlap.

NVIDIA intends for the company to continue to operate under the Mellanox brand within NVIDIA, and vowed that the company doesn’t plan redundancies once the acquisition closes, which is expected by the end of the calendar year following approval by Mellanox shareholders and regulatory authorities.

“There will be absolutely no layoffs. We’ll keep every single employee,” Huang said. “This company is renowned for its technical excellence. There’s no way we’d not continue to invest in it. Mellanox is one of a kind, it’s a treasure that can’t be rebuilt again.”

He also said that he hoped that Mellanox co-founder and CEO Eyal Waldman will continue to lead the 3,000-person company.

“It’s our intention and my hopes that Eyal will lead Mellanox Israel for as long as he shall live,” he said. “I want to build this amazing company with him.”

Waldman said that he intends to work with Huang on uniting the two high performance computing companies.