Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang has resigned as president and CEO, ending his 33-year leadership of the artificial intelligence chipmaker.
Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress has been appointed interim CEO as the company begins searching for a permanent successor, Nvidia announced on Thursday, Nov. 12.
Huang’s resignation is effective immediately, as he has also stepped down from the company’s board of directors.
The board appointed Harvey C. Jones, a longtime Nvidia director and former Synopsys CEO, as its first-ever chair.
Kress is said to retain her positions as executive vice president and CFO while serving as interim CEO., while Nvidia said the board would consider both internal and external candidates for the permanent position.
The leadership change follows reports of two extramarital relationships involving Huang and an investigation into an alleged foreign intelligence operation.
Nvidia however, did not specify a reason for his resignation in its announcement.
Reuters reported that the board had met Wednesday to consider removing Huang after reports emerged of the relationships.
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One involved Alice Huang, a Chinese business executive whom U.S. authorities reportedly suspect of having links to Chinese intelligence.
On the other hand, The New York Times separately reported an alleged relationship between Huang and Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare, citing five people familiar with the matter.
Huang had acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife in a message to employees. Nvidia’s board had previously announced an independent investigation into reports that he was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation.
Kress comes into the picture as someone who has been with the company for a long time, to take charge temporarily while they find the suitable successor.
She joined Nvidia in September 2013 and has led its finance organization for more than a decade. Before joining the company, she spent nearly 25 years in finance positions at technology companies, including Cisco and Microsoft.
Announcing her appointment, Harvey Jones said: “Colette has helped lead NVIDIA through a period of extraordinary growth and has a deep understanding of our business, customers, operations and financial position.”
Jones added that the board had “full confidence in Colette and the leadership team,” expecting the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption.
Kress also pledged continuity, saying: “NVIDIA’s strength has always come from its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years.”
Before Huang’s resignation, Reuters identified Kress and senior technology executive Ian Buck as prominent internal possibilities.
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Buck joined Nvidia in 2004 and helped develop CUDA, the software platform central to the company’s computing ecosystem. He currently leads its hyperscale AI product business.
Arm CEO Rene Haas, a former Nvidia executive, was identified as a potential external candidate in Reuters’ succession reporting.
Other names appeared in broader succession speculation, including AMD CEO Lisa Su, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan and Sierra CEO Bret Taylor.
Nvidia senior vice president of hardware engineering Andrew Bell was also mentioned. TechCrunch’s commentary raised the unconventional possibility of Lori Huang, Jensen Huang’s wife and a former microchip engineer at Silicon Graphics.
These names have not been confirmed by Nvidia as candidates for the permanent position.
The leadership transition comes as Nvidia prepares to report its third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Nov. 17.
The board’s search will determine who leads the company as it seeks to maintain its position in the global AI industry following the departure of its co-founder.