MY PAYCHECK WAS SUPPOSED TO BE $4,000. INSTEAD, $50,000 HIT MY BANK ACCOUNT.
I reported it to HR the next morning.
Twenty minutes later, the CEO walked into the office, locked the door and said something that made my blood run cold.
"I was beginning to think nobody here was honest."
I've worked for this company for six years. My regular paycheck is $4,000. So when I checked my banking app on payday and saw a $50,000 direct deposit, I knew something was wrong.
I didn't spend it.
I didn't transfer it.
I didn't even tell my coworkers.
The next morning, I walked straight into HR.
ME: "I think there's been a payroll mistake."
HR: "What kind of mistake?"
ME: "My paycheck was $50,000."
She stopped typing.
HR: "How much?"
ME: "$50,000. My usual paycheck is $4,000."
She stared at me for several seconds.
HR: "Have you moved any of it?"
ME: "No."
HR: "Not even a small amount?"
ME: "It's not my money. Why would I touch it?"
She slowly closed her laptop.
Then she asked a question I wasn't expecting.
HR: "Did you receive a notification about the payment?"
ME: "Of course. That's how I noticed it."
She picked up her phone and made a call.
I couldn't hear the person on the other end, but I heard her say:
"He's here. And he hasn't touched it."
She ended the call.
ME: "What's going on?"
HR: "How much do you know about the company's payroll system?"
ME: "Nothing beyond checking my paycheck."
She stood up, walked to the office door and closed it.
HR: "Listen. You're not the first person to receive that amount."
My stomach tightened.
ME: "What do you mean?"
She turned her computer towards me.
There were eleven employees on a payroll report.
Every single one had received a $50,000 payment.
ME: "Eleven people?"
HR: "Yes. You're the only one who hasn't moved the money."
ME: "What happened to the others?"
Before she could answer, someone knocked.
Two firm knocks.
Her face changed.
Then a man's voice came from outside.
"Open the door. We need to talk about those eleven payments."
It was the CEO.
🧵
I analyzed eleven New York Times reports on the Jensen Huang story.
Most notably, NYT makes the "spy" claim 30 times in these 11 reports.
The original report cites unnamed officials who had been "briefed" on the intelligence. Not who had seen it themselves -- but who had been "briefed".
This is a game of telephone with plausible deniability.
Nobody named. No specific details of the intelligence used to draw the conclusion that the woman was a spy.
Anonymous "officials" "briefed".
This was used to try to take Jensen Huang down.
When that didn't work, journalists resorted to viciously digging up and scandal mongering about Jensen Huang's other alleged affairs.
Then he was removed as CEO.
Without an investigation.
Without due process.
And now officials and intelligence agencies are contesting the New York Times characterization.
This is unethical. It is unjust.
It is an absolute disgrace.
If anyone should resign now, it is Nvidia's board who aggressively removed Jensen Huang without an investigation, after he gave decades of his life to make the company what it is.
And any investigation that proceeds from here should involved not just the "spy" claim, but the New York Times -- who has engaged in potentially unethical behavior.
Jensen Huang deserves due process -- not mob justice.
He deserves respect for everything he has done for technology and America -- not a disgraceful removal after anonymous, unsubstantiated allegations, several parties removed from the source.