Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaking at a keynote. Image: Joseph Zadeh / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Jensen Huang, the co-founder who built Nvidia into the world's most valuable artificial intelligence company, resigned as president, chief executive officer and a member of the board on Thursday, with immediate effect, the company announced — ending his 33-year run at the helm of the chipmaker.
Nvidia said its board has appointed chief financial officer Colette Kress as interim CEO while it searches for a permanent successor, considering both internal and external candidates. The board also appointed longtime director Harvey C. Jones, a former chief executive of Synopsys, as its first-ever chairman. In a news release on Thursday, the company thanked Huang for his "immeasurable contributions" but gave no reason for his resignation and included no comment from him.
A week of scandal before the exit
The resignation came after a week of damaging headlines. Huang, 63, admitted over the weekend that he had an affair with Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based data-centre company Megaspeed whom US intelligence officials suspect of spying for China, according to reports in The New York Times. He apologised to staff in a letter on Sunday, saying he had been unfaithful to his wife and had violated his family's and his employees' trust.
On Wednesday night, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia's board was preparing to oust Huang after a report emerged of a second extramarital affair — allegedly with Kimberly Powell, a senior Nvidia executive who runs the company's healthcare business. On November 8, Nvidia announced that independent directors, assisted by outside legal counsel, would oversee an investigation into whether Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence operation.
Huang also faces a potential congressional subpoena if he does not comply with a request to provide a closed-door briefing regarding the allegations related to the Chinese businesswoman. Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Thursday that Huang's resignation "does not absolve him" or the company "for putting our national security at risk or for any potential violations of our law."
Shares slide as Wall Street reacts
Investors reacted sharply to the turmoil. Nvidia shares fell more than 10 percent in premarket trading on Thursday following the announcement, and closed down 4.3 percent at $166.19 — their lowest close since March 30, 2026, according to Dow Jones Market Data cited by Barron's. The sell-off wiped billions from the value of a company that had become the centrepiece of the global AI boom under Huang's leadership.
President Donald Trump weighed in on the succession question, suggesting that Apple chief executive Tim Cook should replace Huang at the top of Nvidia.
No obvious successor — and earnings days away
The board's search for a permanent chief executive begins with no clear favourite. Huang, who co-founded Nvidia in 1993 with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, had said he did not believe in succession planning, and had about 60 executives reporting directly to him. Kress, who will retain her CFO responsibilities alongside the interim role, promised employees more information in the coming days and said she would host a company meeting on November 18.
Nvidia said it would release its third-quarter fiscal 2027 results as scheduled on Tuesday, November 17 — a report Wall Street will now watch even more closely for signs of how the leadership upheaval affects the world's most important AI chip supplier.
Sources: Nvidia; The Wall Street Journal; Barron's; USA Today; Channels Television; CNBC TV18.