Nvidia’s board has approached Arm chief executive Rene Haas as a potential successor to Jensen Huang, Reuters reported on 13 November, citing the Financial Times. The reported approach puts a named external candidate into the board’s search one day after Huang resigned as Nvidia’s chief executive and left its board.
Key points
- The Financial Times reported that Nvidia’s board approached Arm CEO Rene Haas about its succession search.
- Haas previously ran Nvidia’s computing-products business and has led Arm since 2022.
- Nvidia CFO Colette Kress is serving as interim CEO following Huang’s departure.
Haas brings Nvidia experience from Arm
Haas has led Arm since 2022 and previously served as vice president and general manager of Nvidia’s computing-products business, Crypto Briefing reported. He is now outside Nvidia’s management, but his earlier role gave him experience running one of its businesses.
The reported contact makes Haas a different kind of candidate from the Nvidia executives already discussed in the search. It does not make him the board’s choice: the Financial Times report, as carried by Reuters, describes an approach during a search for a potential successor.
Haas spent seven years at Nvidia before leading Arm, according to Global Banking & Finance Review. That career path is central to the interest in him — an executive currently running another chip company who has also worked under Nvidia’s leadership.
Kress holds the Nvidia role after 12 November
Huang’s resignation as chief executive and departure from Nvidia’s board took effect on 12 November, Crypto Briefing reported. Chief financial officer Colette Kress is serving as interim CEO, putting an existing Nvidia executive in charge while the board searches for a permanent replacement.
AI Affairs reported Huang’s resignation and Kress’s interim appointment separately. The approach to Haas is the new development: the succession discussion has included Nvidia executives and Arm’s chief executive.
Buck and Kress were already in the search
Before Huang’s departure, Yahoo Finance reported on 12 November that Nvidia’s board was apparently working with an outside firm to identify potential successors. It described Kress and CUDA pioneer Ian Buck as internal names attracting attention, with some analysts suggesting the two could share an interim role.
AI Affairs also reported the board’s search and the emergence of Kress and Buck. Kress now has the interim job, while the Financial Times has reported the board’s approach to Haas for the permanent succession search.
Reuters said it could not immediately verify the Financial Times report.
