Jensen Huang has resigned as chairman, chief executive, and board member of NVIDIA, effective immediately, the company’s own board announced this Thursday, November 12, 2026. Colette Kress, executive vice president and chief financial officer since 2013, becomes interim CEO while keeping her finance role, as the board searches for a permanent successor. The departure ends Huang’s 33 years at the helm of the company he co-founded in 1993.
Jensen Huang’s NVIDIA resignation in 20 seconds
- Huang is leaving all his positions, including his board seat.
- Colette Kress becomes interim CEO and remains CFO.
- Harvey C. Jones, former CEO of Synopsys, becomes the company’s first board chairman.
- The statement gives no reason for the departure.
- Quarterly earnings remain scheduled for November 17.
NVIDIA’s official statement is brief and gives no reason for the resignation, no details on the exit terms, and no mention of the independent investigation the board had opened days earlier. The context, however, is well known. On November 8, Huang acknowledged in a message to staff that he had been unfaithful to his wife, and US media have linked that relationship to Alice Huang, a former executive at data center provider Megaspeed, whom US intelligence considers a suspected agent for Beijing. Neither she nor Megaspeed have been formally charged, and China has denied the reports. As previously reported here, the case put the spotlight on renting GPUs to Chinese companies from outside China.
Pressure mounted on Wednesday, when The New York Times reported that Huang had also had a relationship with an executive who reported directly to him. That same night, according to The Wall Street Journal and CNBC, the board met to decide whether to remove him from his post. Bloomberg describes the departure as an ouster by the board, while NVIDIA formally presents it as a resignation.
Kress in Charge Until There’s a Permanent CEO
Colette Kress joined NVIDIA in September 2013 as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Before that, she spent nearly 25 years in finance roles at technology companies: she was CFO of Cisco’s business technology and operations division, led finance for Microsoft’s servers and tools division, and worked eight years at Texas Instruments. She therefore has a financial and operational profile, not a technical or product one, and her appointment is explicitly provisional.
“NVIDIA’s strength has always come from its people,” Kress said, pledging to build on the foundation Huang laid over the past three decades and affirming that the company will remain focused on customers, partners, developers, and shareholders. The board says it has full confidence in her and the management team, and maintains that operations, customer commitments, and product planning will continue without interruption. It’s a statement of intent: the announcement offers no data to verify it for now.
The search for a successor will consider internal and external candidates, with no announced timeline. In recent days, names such as Ian Buck, head of NVIDIA’s data center business and creator of CUDA, have circulated, among others previously covered here in a roundup of possible successors. These are press speculation, not candidacies confirmed by the company.
A Board Chairman for the First Time
The other piece of news in the announcement concerns corporate governance. NVIDIA had never had a board chairman as such, and it has now named Harvey C. Jones to that post: a director with more than 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur, technology executive, and venture capital investor, and former CEO and executive chairman of Synopsys. Jones highlighted that Kress has helped lead the company through a period of extraordinary growth. The board and the company thank Huang for what they describe as “immeasurable” contributions to NVIDIA and the industry.
According to CP24, Huang retains a stake of close to 3.61% and is the company’s fourth-largest shareholder, but he will not remain on the board. The statement doesn’t clarify whether he will keep any tie to NVIDIA, such as an advisory role or another capacity.
Stock, Earnings, and Congress in the Same Week
The market had already priced in part of the blow. Shares closed Wednesday at $173.73 and fell sharply after hours following reports of the board meeting. After the announcement, Bloomberg put the pre-market drop at around 10%, and Business Upturn recorded shares at $154.68 at 8:55 a.m. (New York time), down nearly 11%. These are pre-market quotes, so the day’s close may differ. NVIDIA had already lost about $190 billion in market value on November 9, as previously reported here, and investors have filed a class-action lawsuit over the matter.
The calendar is tight. NVIDIA is keeping its fiscal 2027 third-quarter earnings release scheduled for Tuesday, November 17, around 1:20 p.m. Pacific time, with the analyst call at 2:00 p.m. It will be the first time Kress presents them as interim CEO. The statement includes no new financial guidance. The following day, November 18, a closed-door briefing that several House committees had requested from Huang was scheduled; it hasn’t been clarified whether it still stands following his departure.
For cloud customers and providers, nothing changes in the immediate term: products, contracts, and delivery schedules remain the same, and the board insists on continuity. What remains open is who will set the strategy for the company that dominates the AI accelerator market, amid an ongoing debate in Washington over chip exports to China, a field where Huang had been the company’s most visible voice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who runs NVIDIA now?
Colette Kress, until now executive vice president and chief financial officer, is interim CEO and will also keep the CFO role until a permanent chief executive is named.
Why did Jensen Huang resign?
NVIDIA’s statement gives no reason. The departure follows the board’s investigation into his relationship with a Megaspeed executive and reports from The New York Times about a second relationship with an executive who reported to him.
Who is Harvey C. Jones?
He is an NVIDIA board member, former CEO and executive chairman of Synopsys, and has been named the company’s first board chairman in its history.
When does NVIDIA report earnings?
On Tuesday, November 17, 2026, as scheduled, with the analyst call at 2:00 p.m. Pacific time.
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This article is also available in Spanish: «Jensen Huang dimite como CEO de NVIDIA y Colette Kress asume el mando interino», on revistacloud.com.
