Nvidia announced on November 12 that co-founder Jensen Huang had resigned as president, chief executive officer and a member of the board, effective immediately. The board appointed Colette Kress interim CEO. Kress will also remain executive vice president and chief financial officer while the board considers internal and external candidates for the permanent job. The directors appointed Harvey C. Jones as Nvidia’s first board chair.
Kress joined Nvidia as finance chief in September 2013 after holding finance roles at companies including Cisco and Microsoft. Nvidia said Jones had previously served as chief executive and executive chairman of Synopsys. In the transition announcement, Kress said she would work with the leadership team to continue the company’s accelerated computing and AI strategy. The statement gave no timetable for choosing a permanent chief executive.
The announcement establishes how Huang left his roles after earlier reporting that the board was considering his removal. It gives no findings from the inquiry. Huang acknowledged infidelity in a November 8 message to employees without identifying a partner. Reuters reported separately on allegations of a relationship with an Nvidia executive. The disputed intelligence allegations involving a former Megaspeed executive also remain separate from Huang’s acknowledgment. Nvidia’s independent directors retained Joon H. Kim and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz for their inquiry. The shareholder complaint remains a proposed class action.
Separately, Megaspeed said on November 12 that it had cooperated with U.S. Commerce Department inspections and was prepared to work with other relevant U.S. authorities, Reuters reported, citing a statement by the company’s chairman and CEO, James Tan Yong Pong. The company’s account addresses its cooperation. The disposition of any export-control investigation and any formal agency action are separate matters.
Nvidia’s CEO transition announcement · Reuters on the transition · Reuters on Megaspeed’s statement · Huang’s November 8 message · Independent directors’ statement
Background on Nvidia’s board inquiry
Archival photo of Jensen Huang, May 2024. Peter Dasilva / © European Union, 2026, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0. Cropped from the original.
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