Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia's president, CEO, and board member effective immediately, and Colette Kress, the company's executive vice president and chief financial officer, agreed to serve as interim CEO.
Huang Resigns, Kress Steps In
Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia's president, CEO, and board member effective immediately. The resignation came on Thursday over reports of extramarital affairs, one with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy. Colette Kress, current executive vice president and chief financial officer, agreed to serve as interim CEO.¹²³⁴
Kress will continue as CFO while serving as interim CEO until a permanent successor is named. The board is initiating a search for a permanent CEO and will consider internal and external candidates.¹³
Who Is Colette Kress
Kress has been an industry veteran for more than 30 years, having previously held high positions at Cisco and Microsoft. She joined Nvidia in September 2013, after spending three years as SVP and CFO of Cisco's Business Technology Operations Finance organization. Before that, she worked at Microsoft for 13 years, including four years as CFO of the Server and Tools division.¹²³⁴
She joined Nvidia in September 2013, after spending three years as SVP and CFO of Cisco's Business Technology Operations Finance organization.
Kress has fronted every earnings call alongside Huang. She has an undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Southern Methodist University. Huang interviewed 22 candidates before hiring her as CFO.²³⁴
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Read More →Kress is 59 years old and based in California. Forbes estimates her net worth at about $1.2 billion. She owned roughly 4.44 million Nvidia shares worth about $772 million. She initially joined Nvidia in part because her two sons endorsed the company for its role in the video game industry.¹²³⁴
Market Reaction and CEO Candidates
Nvidia shares opened down more than 13% after Huang's resignation was announced, wiping more than half a trillion dollars off the firm's share market value. Stacy Rasgon of Bernstein Research halved Bernstein's share price target for Nvidia.¹²³
Josh Gilbert of eToro called Kress a familiar and trusted voice for the market at a time when it badly needs one. Ray Wang, chief executive of Constellation Research, said the crisis isn't so much an issue for the wider AI industry but rather one for Nvidia itself.¹²³⁴
Potential CEO candidates include Chris Malachowsky, who founded Nvidia alongside Huang and Curtis Priem, and Ian Buck, who oversees Nvidia's high-performance computing business. Charu Chanana of Saxo said Buck could protect Nvidia's technological edge, but his ability to manage the wider commercial relationships and geopolitical challenges would face scrutiny.¹²³⁴
Nvidia's Business and Kress's Record Nvidia's leading processors are widely regarded as the gold standard for AI development.
Jun Bei Liu of Ten Cap said Apple's former chief executive, Tim Cook, could be a possible choice. Liu and Chanana also suggested Rene Haas, chief executive of Arm Holdings, the UK chipmaking giant.¹²
Nvidia's Business and Kress's Record
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Read More →Nvidia's leading processors are widely regarded as the gold standard for AI development. The processors are made with the help of chipmakers around the world, including Taiwan's TSMC and South Korea's SK Hynix and Samsung.²
In 2013, Nvidia's sales were $4.28 billion. In the most recent fiscal year, its annual sales reached $215.9 billion. In 2023, Kress said on a call with financial analysts that China accounted for 20 to 25 percent of the company's data center revenue.¹³⁴
Nvidia is slated to report its quarterly earnings on Tuesday.³⁴
Track Nvidia's CEO Search for AI Job Signals
If you work in AI hardware or data center infrastructure, this leadership shakeup changes how you should weigh a role at Nvidia or its suppliers. The board is considering both internal and external candidates, and the interim CEO is a finance executive, not an engineer. That means product roadmaps and hiring priorities could shift depending on who takes over. Before accepting an offer or planning a long-term project, watch who gets named permanent CEO and whether they prioritize technology or commercial relationships.¹²³⁴
Track Nvidia's CEO Search for AI Job Signals If you work in AI hardware or data center infrastructure, this leadership shakeup changes how you should weigh a role at Nvidia or its suppliers.
For anyone negotiating pay or equity in the AI chip sector, the market reaction matters. Nvidia shares opened down more than 13 percent, and one analyst halved the price target. That volatility affects the value of stock-based compensation. If you are considering an offer from Nvidia or a competitor, ask how much of your package is in cash versus shares, and factor in the possibility of further declines. Also note that China accounted for 20 to 25 percent of Nvidia's data center revenue, so geopolitical risk remains a real factor in the company's stability.¹²³⁴
Sources
- theguardian.com — https://www.theguardian.com/technology/live/2026/nov/12/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-affairs-share-price-plunges-live-latest
- bbc.co.uk — https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqgm37dv20e8o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss
- nytimes.com — https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/12/business/nvidia-colette-kress-jensen-huang.html
- techcrunch.com — https://techcrunch.com/2026/11/12/jensen-huang-is-out-at-nvidia-who-is-colette-kress-his-interim-replacement/
Written by Career Ahead AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify key facts. Report errors to support@careeraheadonline.com
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