Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia’s president, chief executive and board member with immediate effect on 12 November, the company announced, appointing CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO and Harvey C. Jones as its first separate board chair. Nvidia shares fell more than 10 percent in US premarket trading that day, The Korea Herald reported. Huang’s departure ends 33 years at the helm of the AI chipmaker he co-founded.
Key points
- Kress will remain chief financial officer while serving as interim CEO.
- Nvidia’s board has appointed Jones chair and is seeking a permanent CEO.
- The resignation follows reports of Huang’s relationships with two women, including a former executive whom US authorities suspect of working for China.
- Nvidia’s quarterly results remain scheduled for 17 November.
Kress takes charge as Jones chairs Nvidia’s board
Kress will keep her duties as executive vice president and chief financial officer until Nvidia names a permanent CEO. The board says it is beginning a search that will consider candidates from inside and outside the company.
Kress joined Nvidia as CFO in September 2013 after nearly 25 years in finance roles at companies including Cisco and Microsoft. Jones previously served as chief executive and executive chairman of Synopsys.
Jones says the board has confidence in Kress and expects Nvidia’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption. The appointment puts a separate chair in place for the first time, while the company searches for a successor to its only CEO since its founding in 1993.
Reports about Huang preceded the resignation
The board launched an investigation into whether Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation, HRD America reported. At that point, directors backed Huang, and Nvidia said it had seen no indication of harm to its protected business information or to the safety of the United States, The Korea Herald reported.
The investigation followed reports of Huang’s affair with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based data centre operator Megaspeed International. US intelligence officials reportedly suspect her of working for China, The Korea Herald reported.
US authorities had concluded that Alice Huang was a Chinese intelligence asset, Reuters reported in HRD America. Beijing has denied that she is a spy.
AI Affairs had reported that the board was preparing to decide Huang’s future, while a separate report covered lawmakers’ calls for his resignation.
Nvidia shares fall ahead of 17 November results
Huang is Nvidia’s fourth-largest investor, with a stake of about 3.61 per cent, Reuters reported. Gil Luria, managing director at DA Davidson, told Reuters that Kress was well regarded by investors but faced a difficult task at a company Huang had led since its inception and where he had concentrated much of the decision-making.
Nvidia will report its third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on 17 November at approximately 1:20 p.m. PT, as previously scheduled, followed by an earnings call at 2 p.m. PT.
