Nvidia Board weighs ousting Jensen Huang amid succession bets

By Elena Vasquez

Nvidia shares fell more than 8.6% in after-hours trading after reports that the company’s board was weighing the removal of founder and Chief Executive Jensen Huang.

Before that possibility emerged, the stock had gained 2.87% during regular-session bargain buying. At 8 p.m. Eastern time, it traded at $158.78.

The reversal turns an internal succession question into a governance risk with immediate implications for investors, customers and Nvidia’s long-term road map.

Who could lead Nvidia if Huang leaves?

Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress has emerged as the leading candidate to serve as interim CEO if Huang leaves, according to reports. Semafor reported on the 11th, citing multiple sources, that some directors support appointing Kress for the role.

Kress has spent 13 years at Nvidia and oversees its business structure and financial position, which supporters cite as her principal strengths. She is also one of the company’s most publicly recognized executives apart from Huang.

Before Nvidia, Kress held finance roles at Cisco and Microsoft. Her lack of engineering expertise, however, has led to assessments that she fits a stopgap role better than the long-term CEO position.

No formal candidate list has been disclosed. Reports say the board has engaged an outside executive search firm, opening the possibility of an external hire rather than an internal promotion.

What do outside and internal candidates bring?

Johny Srouji, Apple’s chief hardware officer, is one external name under consideration. He led Apple’s in-house custom semiconductor work and drove the Apple Silicon program from its early stages.

Since John Ternus succeeded Tim Cook as chief executive, Srouji has overseen Apple’s hardware division. Internally, Nvidia Vice President Ian Buck is a strong contender after 22 years with the company.

Buck led development of CUDA, the platform at the core of the GPU-based computing ecosystem, and now heads Nvidia’s data center and computing businesses. For practitioners, the distinction is concrete: Kress brings financial and operating experience, while Buck brings engineering leadership tied directly to CUDA.

How does Polymarket rank the candidates?

On Polymarket, Ian Buck held the highest implied probability of becoming Nvidia’s next CEO. Colette Kress ranked second, with former Nvidia executive Renee Haas and Huang’s continued tenure further behind.

• Ian Buck: 33%
• Colette Kress: 30%
• Renee Haas, now a chief executive: 5%
• Jensen Huang remaining CEO: 12%

Buck and Kress remained well below certainty, while the 12% assigned to Huang undercut any settled succession outcome. The board has not disclosed a formal slate, leaving those prices as a measure of market sentiment rather than an actual board decision.

Can the board remove Huang quickly?

Under Nvidia’s bylaws, a majority of directors can replace the CEO without cause. The board includes 10 independent directors apart from Huang, and some observers say removal could move quickly once a majority aligns.

The board held an emergency meeting by video the same day the reports emerged. Bloomberg reported that reaching a final conclusion could take several hours.

The directors must weigh the investigation’s findings, conduct legal reviews and select a successor before making a final announcement, Bloomberg said. Despite the lack of an official statement, Bloomberg cautioned that silence does not necessarily mean the board failed to reach a decision.

What are investors and industry voices saying?

Armina Rosenberg, co-founder of Minotaur Capital and an Nvidia shareholder, said the market now treats Huang’s possible absence as a realistic outcome rather than an extreme risk. She still called his departure a major blow.

On Kress’s interim candidacy, Rosenberg called it “a natural choice,” but stressed that “the more important question is who will lead the company’s long-term road map.”

Epic Games Chief Executive Tim Sweeney wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “If Nvidia’s board actually removed Huang it would be a decision as foolish as Apple’s firing of Steve Jobs.” He said the move would do serious damage to the United States.

Gavin Baker, founder of Atreides Management, said he has received messages urging directors to wait for the investigation findings before deciding Huang’s status. He said people should not call him, but contact those able to influence the decision.

No board statement, appointment or formal succession plan has followed the reports. For investors and practitioners, Kress represents the immediate financial-management option, while Buck and Srouji represent the engineering and hardware alternatives under consideration.