Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia’s chief executive on Thursday, ending a 33-year run at the company he co-founded and turned into the most valuable chipmaker in the world. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress takes over as interim CEO, five days before Nvidia reports quarterly earnings.
Nvidia’s board announced the move on November 12, saying Huang had stepped down as president, chief executive, and director, effective immediately. It also named longtime director Harvey C. Jones as the board’s first-ever chair. Huang, Nvidia’s fourth-largest shareholder with a 3.61% stake, will hold no executive role and no board seat.
Thirty-three years, ended in a day.
The exit caps a brutal week for the company at the center of the AI boom. Days earlier, the board said it would investigate whether Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort, after reports that he had a relationship with a woman US officials believe is a Chinese spy. Huang admitted on Sunday that he had an extramarital affair, apologized to his family and colleagues, and did not name the other party.
How Jensen Huang’s resignation unfolded
Events moved fast once the story broke. The New York Times first reported the business connection between Huang and the woman in October 2025. Then, this week, the Times reported that Huang had also had an affair with an Nvidia executive who reports to him.
That second report changed the math for the board. Directors met on Wednesday night to weigh whether to oust Huang, and The Wall Street Journal reported that same day that the board was preparing to remove him. By Thursday morning, he was gone.
“I recognize that this has been an extraordinarily difficult period,” Kress wrote in an internal email to Nvidia staff seen by The Wall Street Journal. She promised employees more information in the coming days and said she would host a company-wide meeting on November 18.
Huang has hired the law firm Paul Weiss, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters.
Who is Colette Kress?
Kress is no newcomer. She joined Nvidia in September 2013 as executive vice president and chief financial officer, and she has held the post ever since. Before that, she worked at Microsoft and Cisco.
Inside Nvidia, she built a reputation as the executive willing to push back on Huang’s biggest bets. As he drove the chipmaker deeper into multibillion-dollar AI investments, Kress questioned the spending, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters. Now the 59-year-old finance chief has the top job, at least for now, while keeping her CFO role too.
Longtime Nvidia engineer Ian Buck has surfaced as a leading internal candidate for the permanent job. Buck helped launch AI on Nvidia chips and led development of CUDA, the software system that powers most AI training today.
What happens next at Nvidia
The timing could hardly be worse. Nvidia publishes its third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday, November 17, at about 1:20 p.m. Pacific Time, with the earnings call following at 2 p.m. Kress will face Wall Street for the first time as chief executive, with no time to settle in.
Markets reacted hard to the news. Nvidia shares dropped more than 10% in pre-market trading on Thursday, slumped 14% during the session to their lowest level in nearly 16 months, and closed down 4.3%. The stock gained about 1% in after-hours trading.
For now, the company’s day-to-day work continues. Chip shipments, data-center orders, and the product road map don’t stop because the CEO changed. But a leadership search at the top of the most important company in AI is not a small disruption, and rivals will notice.
Why this matters for the AI boom
Huang didn’t just run Nvidia. He set the tone for the whole AI industry, from his black leather jacket keynotes to his push to keep selling chips into China despite Washington’s export controls. His close ties with President Donald Trump made him one of the most politically connected CEOs in tech.
His exit could shift US chip export policy and the broader AI ecosystem, Reuters noted, because so much of Nvidia’s strategy ran through him personally. With about 60 direct reports, Huang had said he didn’t believe in succession planning and that leaders should pass on knowledge continuously. That approach left no obvious heir, and the board now has to find one in public.
There’s a second question hanging over the company: whether the scandal touches its business. The board’s investigation into a possible foreign intelligence effort is still open, and Huang’s departure doesn’t close it.
None of this changes the demand for AI chips overnight. Data centers still need Nvidia’s hardware, and no rival has a serious answer to CUDA. But the company that defined the AI boom now has to prove it can run without the man who defined it. Tuesday’s earnings call will be the first test.
Frequently asked questions
Why did Jensen Huang resign as Nvidia CEO?
Huang resigned on November 12, 2026, days after reports of two extramarital affairs, one involving a woman US officials believe is a Chinese spy and another with an executive who reports to him. The board moved to remove him on Wednesday night, and he stepped down the next day.
Who is Nvidia’s interim CEO?
Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress, 59, is interim CEO while keeping her finance job. She has been Nvidia’s CFO since September 2013 and previously worked at Microsoft and Cisco.
What happened to Nvidia’s stock after the resignation?
Shares fell as much as 14% in Thursday trading to their lowest level in nearly 16 months, then pared losses to close down 4.3%. Nvidia reports third-quarter results on Tuesday, November 17.
Who could be Nvidia’s next permanent CEO?
The board is searching for a permanent successor and will consider internal and external candidates. Longtime Nvidia engineer Ian Buck, who helped bring AI to Nvidia chips, has been mentioned as a leading internal candidate.
Sources: Reuters, CNN, The Wall Street Journal