Jensen Huang Resigns From Nvidia as Colette Kress Takes Interim Leadership

Nvidia changes leaders ahead of November 17 earnings

Nvidia announced on November 12, 2026, that Jensen Huang had resigned as president, chief executive and a director, effective immediately, ending 33 years at the head of the company he cofounded. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will lead the chipmaker temporarily while retaining responsibility for its finances.

The board also appointed Harvey C. Jones, a former chief executive and executive chairman of Synopsys, as Nvidia's first board chair. Its CEO transition announcement said directors would consider candidates from inside and outside the company for the permanent position.

Huang's departure follows his admission of infidelity, allegations of relationships with company employees and an investigation into claims that he was targeted by Chinese intelligence through a businesswoman associated with a customer. Nvidia gave no reason for his resignation in its announcement.

The leadership change comes five days before Nvidia is scheduled to release its third quarter results for fiscal 2027. Shares finished Thursday down 4.34%, recovering from a decline of as much as 14% during the session. The company ended the day valued at more than $4 trillion.

Nvidia's board said it expected operations, customer commitments and planned products to continue without interruption. Kress now has to deliver that continuity while directors search for someone to replace an executive who shaped the company's technology, customer relationships and public identity.

For customers building artificial intelligence systems, the immediate issue is whether Nvidia keeps delivering the processors and software they have planned around. For shareholders, the change also puts attention on who will make the company's next major technology decisions.

How the crisis reached the boardroom

Nvidia had initially backed Huang after opening an independent investigation into the alleged intelligence effort. His resignation reverses the leadership arrangement announced just four days earlier, when he was expected to continue running the company while cooperating with the inquiry.

The controversy developed over two weeks, moving from allegations involving a customer representative to questions about relationships within Nvidia and the board's oversight of its chief executive.

• October 29: Allegations became public about Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, a businesswoman associated with Singapore computing company Megaspeed, and suspected Chinese intelligence activity.
• November 8: Nvidia announced an independent investigation. Huang acknowledged infidelity in a message to employees, and directors expressed confidence in his leadership.
• November 11: Allegations of a relationship with Nvidia healthcare executive Kimberly Powell became public, followed by a board meeting about Huang's future.
• November 12: Nvidia announced Huang's immediate departure, Kress's appointment as interim CEO and Jones's appointment as board chair.
• November 17: Nvidia is scheduled to publish quarterly results and hold an earnings call.
• November 18: Three Republican House committee chairs have requested a private briefing with Huang.

The board's November 8 independent review placed the inquiry under independent directors supported by outside lawyers. Nvidia hired Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to investigate the relationship involving Alice Huang.

Huang, then Nvidia's chief executive, addressed his wife and children in his employee message:

I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did.

What the allegations involve

Alice Huang, also known as Huang Le, has held a senior role at Megaspeed, a business involved in providing computing infrastructure. She and Jensen Huang are not related. US intelligence officials reportedly assessed that she had been recruited by China's Ministry of State Security.

The October intelligence allegations also brought attention to at least $4.8 billion in purchases of equipment built around Nvidia technology by a Malaysian company linked to Megaspeed. Those purchases connected scrutiny of Huang's personal contacts with an existing debate over where advanced chips ultimately go.

Huang has denied knowing that Alice Huang allegedly worked for the Chinese government. Megaspeed has denied illegally transferring chips to China, and China's Foreign Ministry has rejected the espionage accusations. The intelligence assessment underlying the allegations has not been publicly released.

Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare, was subsequently identified in allegations of another relationship with Huang. She reportedly answered directly to him. A further allegation, attributed to two people familiar with the matter, concerned another Nvidia employee whose name was not disclosed.

A relationship between a chief executive and someone reporting to that executive presents a workplace conflict because the same leader may influence the employee's responsibilities, pay and promotion. Nvidia's conduct rules call on employees to avoid conflicts involving personal relationships.

The investigation's findings, the full scope of any security exposure and any future working arrangement between Huang and Nvidia remain unresolved. The board's transition announcement focused on leadership appointments and thanked Huang for his contributions.

Who is Colette Kress?

Kress joined Nvidia in September 2013 as executive vice president and chief financial officer. The company said she had led its finance organization throughout a period of substantial growth and change. Before Nvidia, she spent nearly 25 years in technology finance, including roles at Cisco and Microsoft.

Nvidia's annual revenue grew from $4.13 billion in fiscal 2014 to $215.9 billion in fiscal 2026, about 52 times the earlier figure. Kress's experience therefore covers both a much smaller chip business and the financial demands of a company supplying the global expansion of AI infrastructure.

Kress will carry three titles during the transition: interim chief executive, executive vice president and chief financial officer. Her appointment gives Nvidia an experienced internal leader immediately, while leaving directors free to choose a different permanent successor.

Kress, speaking as interim CEO and CFO in Nvidia's announcement, described the priorities she intends to retain:

Our focus remains on serving our customers, partners, developers and shareholders.

Her immediate responsibilities combine daily management with preparation for the earnings announcement. Investors will be looking for an explanation of business performance alongside the company's arrangements for making decisions during the transition.

A new board chair and an open search

Jones brings more than 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur, technology executive and venture investor, according to Nvidia. His appointment establishes a named board chair at the same moment the company loses its founding chief executive.

The board oversees management and chooses the CEO. Its search now has two separate tasks: keeping the business running under Kress and selecting the person who will set its longer term direction.

Jones, Nvidia's new board chair, said directors supported the interim leadership:

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.

A product roadmap is a company's schedule and plan for developing future products. Nvidia customers use those plans when deciding how much computing equipment to buy, when to build data centers and which software to develop.

President Donald Trump publicly suggested Tim Cook as Huang's successor. Other names discussed as possible candidates include Nvidia executive Ian Buck, Arm chief executive Rene Haas and AMD chief executive Lisa Su. Nvidia's announcement named no shortlist and gave no deadline for completing the search.

Why replacing Huang is unusually difficult

Huang cofounded Nvidia in 1993 and led its transformation from a supplier of computer graphics chips into a central provider of AI computing. Its graphics processing units, or GPUs, perform many calculations at once, making them useful for training AI models and running them after training.

Nvidia's value rose from about $400 billion when ChatGPT launched in late 2022 to more than $4 trillion around Huang's departure, an increase of roughly tenfold. That growth made decisions about Nvidia's next generation of chips consequential for customers across the technology industry.

Huang also ran an unusually broad management structure. Descriptions put his direct reports at about 36, while another account put the number at about 60. Either figure means many senior managers answered directly to him rather than through an obvious deputy.

Nvidia employs more than 30,000 people. A structure centered so closely on its founder can allow fast decisions, but it also leaves a successor taking over numerous relationships and responsibilities at once.

Molly Rosen, cofounder and cochief executive of ProjectNext Leadership, which advises company leaders and boards, identified succession as a director responsibility:

The board owns succession.

Siobhan O'Mahony, a professor at Boston University's Questrom School of Business, has written that flatter organizations can leave fewer people with the breadth of experience needed for senior roles. At Nvidia, the practical challenge is finding a leader who can connect engineering choices, customer demand and large financial commitments.

Markets price in the leadership shock

Nvidia shares fell sharply following the announcement before recovering much of their loss. The closing decline of 4.34%, after an intraday fall reaching 14%, left its market capitalization above $4 trillion.

Market capitalization means the combined stock market value of a company's shares. A fall in that value affects shareholders, including people who own Nvidia indirectly through investment and retirement funds.

Bernstein cut its Nvidia share price target from $400 to $200. A price target is an analyst's estimate of a future share price. Stacy Rasgon, a senior analyst at Bernstein, described the difficulty of finding someone to make technology choices with consequences stretching across a decade.

Huang also remains a substantial shareholder. His holdings were reported at more than 870 million shares, representing about 3.6% of Nvidia. Leaving management and the board therefore changes his authority over the company while leaving him with a large financial stake.

The market reaction brings together two concerns: disruption from the investigation and uncertainty about future leadership. Nvidia's continued deliveries, financial results and permanent appointment will give investors more concrete information about how the business is operating without its founder in charge.

China chip access adds political pressure

US lawmakers are examining the controversy alongside policies governing advanced chip sales to China. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons have requested preservation of documents relating to Nvidia exports and a congressional briefing on the alleged intelligence operation.

House committee chairs Brian Mast, John Moolenaar and Rick Crawford requested that Huang attend a private briefing on November 18. Moolenaar warned that a subpoena could follow if Huang neither agreed to attend nor proposed another date.

The debate extends beyond physical exports. Chinese developers can rent computing capacity in overseas data centers, allowing them to use processors remotely without importing the chips themselves.

The Remote Access Security Act would authorize the Commerce Department to regulate remote access to restricted technology through cloud services. The House passed it in January by 369 votes to 22; it awaits Senate consideration. Chinese technology companies have reportedly discussed reserving overseas Nvidia computing capacity amid concern that access could tighten.

Export policy already carries large commercial stakes. Chinese companies reportedly ordered more than two million H200 processors, potentially worth $54 billion, under an arrangement involving US inspections, shipment limits, restrictions on military use and a 25% tariff. Those figures describe orders, with revenue dependent on delivery and the applicable approvals.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning rejected the espionage accusations and accused Washington of using them to justify technology restrictions. Megaspeed's denial of illegal chip transfers adds another disputed issue for investigators examining how equipment moved through companies and jurisdictions.

The first test comes with earnings

Nvidia will release its third quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday, November 17, at approximately 1:20 p.m. Pacific time. Its earnings call is scheduled for 2 p.m. Pacific time, giving Kress an early opportunity to explain performance and address the transition.

Customers will be watching the board's promise of uninterrupted operations against delivery schedules and future product plans. Investors will also be assessing commitments across the AI infrastructure market, where Nvidia supplies chips and has financial relationships with businesses building computing capacity.

Nvidia's July filing was reported to include $36 billion in financial backstops for specialist cloud providers and $20 billion committed to leases. Backstops are promises of financial support under specified conditions. Such obligations make knowledge of the company's finances particularly relevant to managing the transition.

The November 18 briefing request places congressional scrutiny immediately after the earnings announcement. Nvidia therefore faces two closely spaced tests: explaining its commercial position to investors and answering lawmakers' concerns about security and export controls.

Key Points

• Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia president, CEO and director on November 12, 2026, effective immediately.
• Colette Kress became interim CEO while retaining her roles as executive vice president and CFO.
• Harvey C. Jones became Nvidia's first board chair; directors will consider internal and external CEO candidates.
• The departure followed an admission of infidelity, further relationship allegations and an independent investigation involving alleged Chinese intelligence targeting.
• Nvidia shares closed down 4.34% after falling as much as 14% during Thursday's session.
• Quarterly results are scheduled for November 17, followed by a requested congressional briefing with Huang on November 18.