Jensen Huang Resigns as Nvidia CEO; CFO Colette Kress Named Interim Chief

Nvidia said Thursday that co-founder Jensen Huang has resigned as president, chief executive and a member of the board, effective immediately, ending a 33-year run at the head of the company he built into one of the world’s largest makers of AI chips.

Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will serve as interim chief executive while the board searches for a permanent successor, the company said. Kress will keep her roles as executive vice president and chief financial officer. The board also named Harvey Jones, a venture capitalist and former chief executive of Synopsys, as its first board chair.

A week of pressure on the board

The exit followed days of pressure on Huang after reports of two extramarital affairs, one with a woman U.S. officials believe is a Chinese spy and a second, reported by the New York Times, with an executive who reports to him. On Sunday, Huang admitted to having an extramarital affair, without naming the other party, and apologized to his family and colleagues.

The board said Sunday it would investigate whether Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort, and said it had confidence in him and no reason to believe that national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised. President Donald Trump defended Huang earlier in the week, calling him an “honorable guy.” But the board met Wednesday night to weigh whether to remove him, according to CNN, and announced his resignation the next morning. The company’s statement gave no reason for the departure.

The change comes as senators have already asked the Trump administration to preserve Nvidia records tied to chip sales to China.

Shares fall and the search begins

Nvidia shares fell more than 10 percent in premarket trading on Thursday, according to CNN, and were down 9.7 percent in morning trading, according to the Associated Press. The stock had already fallen 27 percent from its record high last month through Wednesday, November 11, on doubts about whether Huang would stay.

The drop spread across AI stocks. CoreWeave fell 10.9 percent, Micron Technology sank 3.1 percent and GE Vernova slipped 0.8 percent, the Associated Press reported. Broadcom rose 5.2 percent and Advanced Micro Devices added 2 percent. The S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.9 percent in morning trading.

Kress joined Nvidia in September 2013 as executive vice president and chief financial officer, according to Reuters. Revenue was $4.13 billion in the fiscal year she joined and $215.9 billion in fiscal 2026. Before Nvidia, she held finance roles at Texas Instruments, Microsoft and Cisco. She holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Arizona and a master’s degree in business administration from Southern Methodist University.

Nvidia plans to report third-quarter results for fiscal 2027 on November 17 as scheduled, with an earnings call the same day. Huang led Nvidia from its founding in 1993, and the company has never had another chief executive.

Reporting based on coverage by CNN, Reuters and the Associated Press.