Jensen Huang Out as NVIDIA CEO; CFO Kress Named Interim

NVIDIA's board announced Thursday that Jensen Huang has resigned as president, chief executive and board member — ending a 32-year run that began when he co-founded the company in 1993. Colette Kress, the chipmaker's executive vice president and chief financial officer, takes over as interim CEO while keeping her CFO title.

The company also named its first-ever board chair: Harvey Jones, former CEO and executive chairman of Synopsys, the electronic design automation firm.

What does the leadership change mean for NVIDIA?

For practitioners, the immediate question is continuity — roadmaps, customer commitments, product schedules. Jones addressed that directly in his statement: "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."

He also framed why Kress got the nod. "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 said.

NVIDIA's own statement laid out the process: "Kress will continue to serve as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer while serving as Interim Chief Executive Officer until a permanent successor has been named. The Board is initiating a search for a permanent Chief Executive Officer and will consider internal and external candidates."

The company Huang leaves behind isn't the 3D graphics shop he started — it's an AI linchpin now worth more than $4 trillion. That scale is the frame for everything that follows: the CEO who built it won't get to keep steering it.

Why did Huang resign now?

The resignation lands days after NVIDIA's board opened an investigation into Huang following his admission of an affair with a former tech executive accused of being a Chinese intelligence asset. The board said it had "no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised." President Donald Trump said the FBI is also investigating.

The New York Times added another layer: Huang also had an affair with an NVIDIA executive who reported directly to him. The two were seen "being affectionate" at a hotel during a company conference this year, according to the report. A bystander who recorded the interaction was reportedly offered a nondisclosure agreement by Huang's security detail.

For a company whose entire value proposition rests on trusted supply of the world's most advanced AI chips, a CEO entangled with an alleged foreign intelligence asset — even one the board cleared of compromising secrets — was an untenable exposure. The board moved within days.

What did Huang and Trump say?

In a memo to employees earlier this week, Huang apologized and wrote that leading the company was "the privilege of my life" and that he was "committed to protecting NVIDIA and supporting America's national security." He said he was "fully committed to NVIDIA" and would "work to earn back your confidence." He won't get the chance.

Trump, asked about the revelations, called Huang "an honorable guy" and said he "probably has an excuse for it." Huang had been one of several tech leaders accompanying the president on a recent trip to China, and the two were frequently seen together.

How far the fall is

Huang has been NVIDIA's only CEO since co-founding it in 1993. Under him, the company rode the AI boom to a market value above $4 trillion, and Huang himself became the public face of that boom — the signature black leather jacket, appearances alongside Mark Zuckerberg and Satya Nadella.

He also carved out distinctive policy positions for a tech CEO. He argued against increased AI regulation and said America should not restrict China's access to US-made chips — stances that ran counter to researchers raising alarms about superintelligence, and that will now be someone else's argument to make.

Kress inherits the interim role with a permanent CEO search underway, internal and external candidates in play, and a leadership team Jones credits with executing the strategy to date.