Nvidia Dismisses Jensen Huang After 33 Years, Adds Chairman

Nvidia dismissed Chief Executive Jensen Huang after 33 years on the 11th. The emergency board meeting set in motion three governance changes:

• Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress became interim CEO.
• Board member Harvey Jones became chairman, shifting Nvidia from a board without a chairman to a chairman structure.
• The board lost one seat, shrinking from 11 members to 10 after Nvidia removed Huang.

Observers saw the rapid sequence as an attempt to draw a line, contain internal turmoil and win back investor confidence after Huang’s dismissal over allegations of involvement in espionage. The response combined management changes, a smaller board and an edited public record.

What happened at Voyager?

On the afternoon of the 12th, security guards stood around the entrance to the Voyager building in Nvidia’s Santa Clara, California, headquarters. Broadcast reporters from foreign media outlets prepared live reports with Voyager in the background.

A guard stopped a reporter from approaching employees beyond the steps and said: “From here on, this is Nvidia private property. Do not trespass.” Departing employees declined to discuss Huang’s replacement or the internal mood, saying they were sorry or could not comply.

Nvidia had swept clean the area beside its sign at the entrance steps, where employees and local residents had placed bouquets and candles before work while lamenting his departure. The company removed those tributes. CNBC reported that some employees had regarded Huang as an idol and were so shaken by his departure that they wept.

Around 3 p.m., employees began leaving through a side entrance at Voyager. In a building across from Voyager, workers could be seen smoking with grim expressions or stepping outside briefly for air before heading back in.

How did Nvidia manage Huang’s public footprint?

Starting on the morning of the 12th, Nvidia erased more traces of Huang from its website. It deleted a photograph and his name alongside Chris Malachowsky’s, with whom Huang had co-founded the company in 1993, before restoring him to the founders list after the deletion was reported.

What did Kress tell employees?

Interim CEO Colette Kress moved to steady the organization through an email to employees that day. She described an extremely difficult period, thanked staff for their resilience, professionalism and unwavering dedication, and said Nvidia’s current performance reflected their daily work. She promised more from management about their shared future within days.

What led to Huang’s dismissal?

Before the dismissal, Nvidia had shielded Huang even as allegations of his involvement in espionage remained outstanding. The company then turned away from him as a series of infidelity scandals surfaced, and accounts of his remarks described severe self-reproach, with Huang calling himself “a piece of garbage.”

Bloomberg, citing a person inside the company, reported that Huang fought to keep the CEO job. From the night before the dismissal, he told those around him that he did not care what happened and was past caring.

The New York Times, citing sources, reported that President Donald Trump called Huang on the 10th and urged him to fight to the end. Huang gave up after the board convened and the outcome tilted toward dismissal.

What happens to the investigation?

Congress signaled that it would press ahead with its investigation despite Huang’s dismissal. His exit followed his acknowledgment of a romantic relationship with Alice Huang, a businessperson suspected of spying for China, and further allegations of infidelity.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, a Republican from Florida, said late on the night before the dismissal that Huang had tentatively agreed to appear before a key congressional committee. Huang would testify behind closed doors if the tentative agreement held.

For investors, the immediate governance reset combines an interim CEO, a newly designated chairman and a smaller board while the congressional investigation and reputational questions remain unresolved. The next checkpoints are Kress’s promised management update and Huang’s tentative closed-door testimony.