Nvidia says founder Jensen Huang has resigned as president, chief executive and board member, effective immediately. In a release issued on 12 November, the company named CFO Colette Kress interim CEO and said the board is starting a search that will consider internal and external candidates. Kress keeps her CFO duties while she runs the company.
The announcement ends a week in which Huang’s position went from “the board has confidence in him” to “gone”. On 8 November, the board said it was opening an independent investigation into reporting that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. The statement added that it had confidence in him and his leadership team. Tom’s Hardware reports that Huang admitted over the weekend to being unfaithful to his wife and sent a company-wide apology. We covered the board investigation and Huang’s admission at the time.
Pressure built on Wednesday. The New York Times reported that Huang had a second relationship, this time with an Nvidia executive who reported to him, citing five people who worked at the company. Soon after, the Wall Street Journal reported the board was preparing to force him out. CNBC confirmed late Wednesday that directors were meeting to decide whether to oust him, and Nvidia shares fell more than 9% in post-market trading. Our earlier piece on the reported plan to remove Huang covers that stage.
The first affair is the more serious one for Nvidia. Vanguard News reports that Huang reportedly had a relationship with a senior executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based data centre company the US suspects of smuggling AI chips into China. Beijing has rejected the spying allegations. Nvidia’s 8 November statement said the board had no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised.
What changes at the top
Kress takes over a company that has never had a boss other than its founder. Nvidia is also creating a role it has never had: the release names Harvey C. Jones as the board’s first-ever chair. Nvidia’s 2011 proxy statement shows the independent directors picked a lead director rather than a chair.
Huang’s exit from the board goes further than expected, because reports before the announcement said Nvidia’s bylaws would let him keep his seat as a director even if he lost the CEO job. In the release, Kress said she is “committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years”. Jones said the board expects operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap to continue without interruption.
Markets react
Investors had already priced in a lot of the damage. Yahoo Finance’s live blog says Nvidia stock fell 10% in premarket trading after the news. The same blog points out that Huang has around 60 direct reports and has never publicly shared a succession plan, which is why the Kress appointment is explicitly interim.
Nvidia’s board says the roadmap will hold for customers, and Kress has run the company’s finances since 2013. A permanent CEO is the open item, and the board has set no timeline. We’ll update this story when Nvidia names one or when Huang comments.
Huang was also facing legal pressure before the resignation. Shareholders sued Nvidia and Huang over disclosures about the alleged spy affair.
Who is running Nvidia now?
Colette Kress, Nvidia’s executive vice president and CFO, is interim CEO and keeps her CFO responsibilities. Harvey C. Jones is the board’s first-ever chair.
Has Nvidia named a permanent CEO?
No. The board says it is starting a search that will consider internal and external candidates, and it hasn’t given a timeline.
Will Nvidia’s products and customer commitments change?
Nvidia says it expects operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap to continue without interruption under Kress. The company hasn’t announced any changes to products or launch plans.
