Marlon Brando Cool With Jensen Huang Joke: How the Black Leather Jacket Became a Meme | Jensen Huang

For nearly two decades, a black leather jacket has been a key part of Jensen Huang’s look. Now it’s become a punchline.

As Nvidia’s founder and chief executive resigned this week after reporting several affairs, his affinity for a leather jacket, an item of clothing typically associated with a man in mid-life crisis mode, has become widely mocked.

The Cut published an article suggesting a clear line between his penchant for a luxury leather jacket and his extramarital affairs. “Jensen Huang’s Leather Jackets Confessed Before Him,” the headline reads. Writing in the New York Times, author Anand Giridharadas asked, “Is an expensive leather jacket on a middle-aged man the new symbol of a honeypot victim?”

Meanwhile, the internet is full of memes, including an AI-generated image of a leather jacket flying at half-mast in front of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket company. There was also another fake image, this time of Huang in a studded leather jacket, which many people believed was real.

Elsewhere, many jokes about divorced fathers are circulating. “The Jensen leather jacket talk reminds me of the time I wore my beloved motorcycle jacket to a party two years ago and my good friend said ‘great jacket, sorry you divorced,'” one user wrote on X.

Similar to Steve Jobs’ black turtleneck and jeans or Mark Zuckerberg’s Latin slogan t-shirts, Huang’s black leather jacket has become a visual trademark. He likes to pair a leather jacket (always black) with a black t-shirt and black jeans.

In a September interview with CBS, Huang explained that he owned between 30 and 40 leather jackets. He credited his wife, Lori Huang, with choosing them. They vary from motorcycle-inspired jackets with a slimmer fit and plenty of zippers to croc-embossed collarless jackets and slim-fit versions with clean cuts. He’s worn them to trade shows, parties, and to give speeches at developer conferences. In 2021, he appeared on the cover of Time magazine in a black leather jacket by Tom Ford. In July, another Tom Ford jacket worn and signed by Huang sold at a charity auction at Sotheby’s for $960,000, more than 10 times its original price.

“The leather jacket is Huang’s way of borrowing a bit of cool,” says Peter Bevan, writer and stylist. Bevan highlights the leather jacket’s “rebellious history” as part of his appeal.

Marlon Brando led his biker gang in an asymmetrical zip-up jacket in 1953’s The Wild One; James Dean strolled off-screen in a similar style while following his Berlin days; David Bowie wore a black leather jacket on the cover of his album Heroes in 1977. Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing, John Travolta in Grease and Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones also made the leather jacket an enduring symbol of Hollywood style.

By choosing a black leather jacket rather than a corporate suit, it suggests that Huang is unconventional, a leader rather than a conformist.

“Basically, it’s Huang saying, ‘I’m not a regular billionaire boss, I’m a cool billionaire boss,'” Bevan says.

When CBS asked him in October why he wore a leather jacket day after day, Huang said it helped him avoid decision fatigue. “Dark is the absence of choice,” he said. “It’s nice to wear the same thing every day because no surprises. For everyone, they probably have to make three or four decisions. I took that off my plate. As soon as I wake up, I could think about important things.”

It’s a look that hasn’t gone unnoticed by her fellow tech giants. In 2024, Zuckerberg posted a photo of Huang exchanging jackets. Later that year, at a Siggraph conference in Colorado, Zuckerberg gave her another jacket. “It’s black, leather and sheepskin,” Zuckerberg said when describing the coat. “It’s a vibe. I mean, give it a chain.” In return, Huang gave him the black leather jacket he was wearing, explaining that Lori had purchased it for him to commemorate that year’s conference. “It’s worth more because it’s used,” Zuckerberg said as he put it on.

Bevan says that while Huang’s choice of designer jackets is “the kind most fashion insiders would rate,” a fresh-out-of-the-box leather jacket “feels like an effort” and, as a result, “quickly veers into midlife crisis territory.”

According to Bevan, the biggest mistake men make when buying a leather jacket is choosing one that is “too shiny, too new and too tight.”

The list of those who get it wrong is long – including Jeremy Clarkson, who likes to wear a black leather jacket with bootcut jeans.

For Bevan, the men who master a leather jacket are the ones who “look like they’ve had it forever.”

Lenny Kravitz, who like Huang is in his 60s, prefers a worn leather jacket. John Malkovich, who is ten years older, likes oversized brown leather jackets, while rapper A$AP Rocky, who is in his thirties, has made the leather jacket his style staple.

For those who don’t have youth or “rock star DNA” on their side, Bevan suggests ditching a leather jacket for a cotton Harrington style which he describes as “having the same cool style but without the leather-clad midlife baggage.”

As for Huang, he may need to reconsider his default wardrobe for next week. Although he has successfully worn a leather jacket at tech conferences, it may be more difficult to do so during congressional testimony.