Jensen Huang resigns as Nvidia CEO; CFO Colette Kress named interim CEO
SummaryNvidia's board accepted Huang's resignation as president, CEO and director, effective immediately. Kress stays CFO while serving as interim CEO, and longtime director Harvey C. Jones becomes the company's first-ever board chair.
· MODEL Editors · 2 min read
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What happened. Nvidia's board announced (opens in a new tab) on Thursday, Nov. 12, that Jensen Huang has resigned as president, chief executive and a member of the board, effective immediately. In an SEC filing (opens in a new tab), Nvidia said the board accepted the resignation on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Huang co-founded the company in 1993.
Who runs Nvidia now. CFO Colette Kress, 59, is interim CEO. She will keep her job as executive vice president and CFO until a permanent successor is named. She joined Nvidia in 2013 after nearly 25 years in finance roles at companies including Cisco and Microsoft.
A first-ever chair. The board named Harvey C. Jones, 73, its first-ever chair. Per the filing, Jones has been a director since 1993. Nvidia's release says he was previously CEO and executive chairman of Synopsys.
The search. Nvidia says the board is starting a search for a permanent CEO and "will consider internal and external candidates." No successor has been named.
Why now. Huang's exit follows reports of an affair that raised national-security concerns, AP (opens in a new tab) and The Verge (opens in a new tab) report. Nvidia's release does not give a reason and does not include a statement from Huang. Background on the board's meeting is in our Nov. 11 story.
Trump weighs in. President Trump wrote on Truth Social that "there is only one man to take his place - TIM COOK of Apple," CNBC (opens in a new tab) and Axios (opens in a new tab) report. Cook, Apple's former CEO, is now its executive chair. Nvidia has not named any candidate.
What Nvidia says about customers. "We expect the company's operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption," Jones said in the release. Per Nvidia's Oct. 28 release (opens in a new tab), the company still plans to report third-quarter results on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at about 1:20 p.m. PT, with its call at 2 p.m. PT.
The stock. $NVDA was at $165.52 at 8:01 a.m. PT, down 4.7% from Wednesday's $173.73 close (Yahoo Finance). Reuters (opens in a new tab) reports global AI-linked stocks tumbled on the news.
What it means for builders. If you buy Nvidia GPUs or rent them in the cloud, the company says nothing changes on orders or roadmaps for now. The next real signal is the Nov. 17 earnings call, the first under the interim CEO.
What we left out. Names and details from single-outlet reports, and reported lists of possible successors. We report only what Nvidia said or what at least two outlets confirmed.
Disclosure: Not investment advice. Not tested by MODEL. Not sponsored. No affiliate links.
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Sources
- NVIDIA Announces CEO Transition
NVIDIA
- NVIDIA Corp. Form 8-K (Nov. 11, 2026 event)
U.S. SEC (EDGAR)
- NVIDIA Sets Conference Call for Third-Quarter Financial Results
NVIDIA
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns after his affair raises national security concerns
AP
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns amid spy, affair scandals
The Verge
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns: Live updates
CNBC
- Trump pitches Apple's Tim Cook as new Nvidia CEO after Huang resigns
Axios
- Global AI-linked stocks tumble as Huang resigns
Reuters (on X)
- Nvidia's board is meeting to decide whether to oust Jensen Huang (our Nov. 11 story)
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