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Nvidia has a new interim chief executive. On Thursday, November 12, the company announced that Jensen Huang had resigned. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will lead the company while the board looks for a permanent successor. The board also created a new post, chair of the board, and filled it with technology veteran Harvey C. Jones.

The announcement ends a 33-year run for Huang. He built Nvidia from a graphics-chip start-up into one of the most influential companies in technology. His departure is effective immediately and covers his roles as president, chief executive and member of the board.

A week of mounting pressure

The resignation came after a turbulent few days. According to the San Francisco Standard, reports had emerged that Huang, 63, had extramarital affairs. One of them allegedly involved an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company that has bought billions of dollars' worth of Nvidia chips. U.S. intelligence agencies reportedly suspect she passed information to the Chinese government. She is not related to Huang.

The New York Times separately reported an affair with an Nvidia executive who reported directly to him. After his resignation, Reuters reported a relationship with a second Nvidia employee. These accounts are media reports, and the board's own review is still under way.

On Sunday, Nvidia's board announced an independent investigation into Huang's conduct. A committee of independent directors is overseeing it with the help of outside counsel. The board said it had no reason to believe national security or the company's secrets had been compromised. It added that the review would look at all available information. Early in the week, the independent directors retained Joon H. Kim, a former acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to run the inquiry.

Huang also wrote to employees that day. He apologized and said he took full responsibility. He said he supported the investigation and would cooperate fully, and he asked that his family be given privacy.

Who is Colette Kress?

Kress is a familiar figure inside Nvidia and on Wall Street. She joined the company in September 2013 after nearly 25 years in finance roles at Cisco, Microsoft and other technology firms. As CFO she has been the voice of Nvidia's financial results, and she became one of the most visible executives at the company as its revenue grew with the boom in artificial intelligence.

She will keep her finance responsibilities while serving as interim CEO. She said she is committed to building on the foundation Huang laid over three decades, and that the company's priorities remain its customers, partners, developers and shareholders.

Her appointment is described as temporary. Nvidia has not said whether she will be considered for the permanent role.

A new chair and a search for a successor

Harvey Jones becomes Nvidia's first chair of the board. Jones has spent more than 30 years as an entrepreneur, technology executive and venture investor, and he previously served as CEO and executive chairman of Synopsys.

Jones said the board has full confidence in Kress and the wider leadership team. He expects operations, customer commitments and the product road map to carry on without interruption. The board has begun its search and said it will consider both internal and external candidates.

Washington weighs in

The search has already drawn attention from the White House. President Donald Trump publicly suggested that former Apple CEO Tim Cook should take over at Nvidia. In a social media post, he described the move as one legend replacing another. Axios noted that Trump did not comment on the controversy surrounding Huang's departure.

The suggestion is only that. Nvidia has not named any candidate, and the board has said the process is just beginning. Prediction markets reflect the uncertainty. Polymarket put the odds of a new CEO being named by the end of December at roughly 36%, according to figures reported on Thursday.

Investors react

Markets took the news hard. Nvidia closed Wednesday at $173.73 a share and opened Thursday at $151.00, a steep fall in early trading. The stock recovered some ground after the opening bell, though it was still down around 5% by midday, trading near $164.

The stakes reach well beyond one company. Nvidia accounts for more than 6% of the S&P 500, so concerns about who leads it are also concerns for portfolios held by millions of ordinary investors. As one expert quoted by the San Francisco Standard put it, succession risk at such a large company becomes portfolio risk.

Huang himself remains the company's largest individual shareholder, with a 3.6% stake. His net worth is estimated at around $148 billion.

Earnings test comes first

Kress faces an early test. Nvidia is due to report its third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday at about 1:20 p.m. Pacific time, with a conference call at 2 p.m. The company has said the schedule has not changed.

Analysts will listen for several things on that call. They will want reassurance about demand for Nvidia's AI chips and about the stability of the senior team. They will also want any detail on how the search for a permanent CEO is going and what the investigation might mean for the business. Kress, who normally presents the numbers, will now present them as the company's top executive.

What to watch next

Several questions remain open:

  • The investigation. The independent review is only beginning, and the board has not said when it expects to finish or whether it will publish findings.
  • The permanent CEO. The board has promised to consider internal and external candidates. Whether Kress is among them is unclear.
  • Customers and partners. Nvidia's chips underpin much of the world's AI infrastructure, so large customers will be watching for signs of any change in strategy or supply.
  • Huang's future role. He has left both the CEO post and the board. How, and whether, he stays involved with the company he founded has not been addressed.

For now, Nvidia's message is continuity. Its products, customer commitments and road map are meant to carry on while an interim CEO steadies the company and a board with a brand-new chair decides who should lead it next.