News of Jensen Huang’s affair with an alleged asset of China’s Ministry of State Security was first met with a muted response in Silicon Valley—including inside Nvidia itself. Huang’s resignation, after news of two other alleged romantic relationships with Nvidia staffers, has left both the company and the broader AI industry stunned.

As revelations about Huang’s initial affair came out earlier this week, rank-and-file Nvidia employees at first pursued business as usual, according to two current and three former employees at the chipmaker, speaking anonymously to protect relationships at the company. They trusted the board to investigate and act accordingly, but few workers thought Huang would actually leave.

Nvidia’s roughly 60,000 employees are loyal to the point that its global turnover rate is reportedly among the lowest in tech. Workers say they have heard it called having “green in your blood” or being “green-pilled” or on “team green,” referring to the company’s signature color. Huang was the company’s soul and the founder who stuck with it through challenges for 33 years. Employees appreciated that he kept layoffs rare and red tape sparing.

“In just three days we went from superhero cape to ‘Oops, I forgot my pants,’ and nobody’s quite sure how to swallow that,” one employee said. One former employee insisted in Huang’s defense that something “more sinister” must have been in play, and that affairs alone shouldn’t have led to his departure.

Huang’s peers in Silicon Valley echoed that sentiment, remaining vocal in their support of the embattled CEO even after his ouster.

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