The company at the center of the AI boom is suddenly without the founder who built it.
Nvidia announced on Thursday, November 12, that co-founder Jensen Huang has resigned as president, chief executive officer and a member of the board, effective immediately. Chief financial officer Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent replacement.
The official announcement
In its statement, Nvidia’s board said Kress will continue as executive vice president and CFO while serving as interim CEO “until a permanent successor has been named.” The board said it will consider internal and external candidates.
The company also named Harvey C. Jones as its first-ever chair of the board. Jones is a longtime technology executive and venture investor who previously served as CEO and executive chairman of Synopsys.
“The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team, and we expect the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption,” Jones said.
Kress said she is “committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years,” and that the company’s focus remains on serving customers, partners, developers and shareholders.
The board’s statement thanked Huang for his “immeasurable contributions to the company and the industry.”
Why he stepped down
Nvidia’s statement did not give a reason. According to The Guardian, the resignation followed reports of extramarital affairs, including one with a businesswoman whom U.S. intelligence services reportedly suspect of being a Chinese asset, and reported relationships with two company employees.
The Guardian reports that Nvidia’s board had hired the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz earlier in the week to conduct an independent investigation, and that Huang had admitted being unfaithful to his wife. Huang has denied knowing of any alleged ties to the Chinese government and has agreed to testify before Congress, the paper reports. Several of these reports remain allegations, and investigations are ongoing.
Market reaction
Investors reacted sharply. The Guardian reports Nvidia shares fell as much as 13% when trading opened Thursday before partially recovering to close down 4.3%. Even after the drop, the company was valued at around $4 trillion.
Who could lead Nvidia next
The board’s search has already set off speculation. The Guardian lists internal candidates including Kress and Ian Buck, who manages the company’s AI hardware and software products. Names mentioned as possible outside candidates include Arm CEO Rene Haas, AMD CEO Lisa Su and Apple executive chair Tim Cook. President Trump publicly suggested Cook for the job in a social media post.
Whoever takes over will inherit an unusual structure. Huang was known for running Nvidia with dozens of direct reports, which concentrated an enormous amount of decision-making around him.
What comes next
Nvidia is sticking to its schedule. The company said it will report third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday, November 17, with an earnings call at 2 p.m. Pacific time. That call will be the first big public test for Kress as interim CEO, and investors will be listening closely for any sign that product timelines or customer commitments are shifting.
Why it matters beyond Nvidia
Nvidia designs the chips used to train and run many of the world’s most powerful AI models, and companies across the industry depend on its hardware. Huang co-founded the company in 1993 and led it from a graphics card maker into one of the most valuable companies in the world.
His sudden exit raises big questions for the AI industry: whether Nvidia can keep its pace without its founder, how the company handles the investigations, and how the episode affects ongoing debates in Washington over chip exports and national security.
For now, the board’s message is continuity. The next few weeks, starting with Tuesday’s earnings call, will show whether the market believes it.
Image: Computer Chip by Lenharth Systems via StockSnap, CC0 1.0
