Jensen Huang has resigned as Nvidia’s chief executive after 33 years leading the chipmaker he co-founded. Nvidia announced on Thursday (12 November 2026) that finance chief Colette Kress would take over as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent successor.
Huang also stepped down as president and left the board. Nvidia said in a US regulatory filing that the board accepted his resignation on Wednesday, with immediate effect.
Huang started Nvidia in 1993 with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem and had led it since its founding. The company got its start in computer graphics for gaming and went on to become a major supplier of chips used to train and run artificial intelligence systems.
Kress Will Keep Her Finance Role
Kress has been Nvidia’s chief financial officer and executive vice president since she joined in September 2013. She will keep both jobs while serving as interim CEO. Before joining Nvidia, she worked in finance roles at technology companies including Cisco and Microsoft.
The board also named longtime director Harvey C. Jones as its first chair. Jones, a former CEO of chip design software company Synopsys, joined Nvidia’s board in 1993. He said he expected Nvidia to keep its commitments to customers and stick to its product plans through the handover.
The Board Had Opened an Independent Investigation
The leadership change came four days after Nvidia’s board announced an independent investigation into reports that Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. In a message Nvidia published the same day, Huang said he had been unfaithful to his wife and would cooperate with the investigation. The board’s independent directors said on 10 November that they had hired outside lawyers to conduct the inquiry.
Nvidia shares fell as much as 12% during Thursday’s US trading session, Reuters reported. The company said its quarterly results are still due on 17 November US time, early on 18 November in Singapore.
