Jensen Huang Hired At Denny’s, Where He Will Report To A 24-Year-Old Called Kayla
The former NVIDIA chief has extensive restaurant experience, although his new manager says the leather jacket must stay in his locker.
Jensen Huang has secured a new position at Denny’s following his departure from NVIDIA, accepting an offer that includes discounted meals and a direct reporting line to Kayla Benson, 24, who needs him to stop standing in the doorway.
The move returns Huang to the chain where he worked as a dishwasher, busboy, and waiter as a teenager. NVIDIA also began with a meeting at a Denny’s in 1993, a detail Benson has now heard four times while trying to show him where the mop goes.
“He’s got the experience, and he’s available for weekends,” said Benson, who approved the hire after Huang confirmed he could lift a full bus tub. “I don’t really know what a CUDA is. If it’s a scheduling app, we already have one.”
Huang has described the role to former colleagues as a return to building at the ground level. His first assignment is underneath table six.
The former chief executive arrived for orientation in his familiar leather jacket and asked whether the restaurant had a five-year infrastructure plan. Benson told him they were hoping to get the ice machine fixed before Saturday.
He has since proposed buying 40 dishwashers to meet anticipated demand. The restaurant has space for one. Huang told staff the other 39 could be leased back to customers who wanted to develop their own breakfast businesses.
“We need to start thinking about the entire plate,” he said during a pre-shift meeting Benson had intended to use to discuss a blocked toilet. “People see pancakes. I see the installed base for syrup.”
His employee file lists 33 years of management experience, no recent food-handler certificate, and a request to be paid partly in stock. Payroll has offered direct deposit every other Friday.
Benson said Huang was settling in well, although she had denied his request to rename the dish pit an accelerated cleaning factory. She also confirmed he would have no direct reports.
He has been asked to bring two forms of identification. A magazine with his face on it will not count as either.
