Nvidia co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang has resigned from his leadership position and board membership, effective immediately, marking a major change at the artificial intelligence and semiconductor company.
Nvidia's board of directors announced on November 12 that Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress would take over as interim CEO. She will continue serving as executive vice president and CFO while holding the interim position until a permanent successor is appointed.
Editorial Insight
Key Highlights
Important points readers should notice.
Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia CEO and board member on November 12, 2026.
Colette Kress has been appointed interim CEO.
Kress will retain her position as executive vice president and CFO.
Harvey C. Jones has become Nvidia's first-ever board chairman.
The board will consider internal and external candidates for the permanent CEO position.
Nvidia's board announced an independent investigation on November 8.
The board has initiated a search for a permanent chief executive and will consider both internal and external candidates. It has not announced a timeline for completing the selection process or identified a permanent successor.
Nvidia has also appointed Harvey C. Jones as its first-ever chairman of the board. Jones has served as a longtime board member and has experience in technology leadership and venture investment.
Kress joined Nvidia in September 2013 and has led the company's finance organisation during a period of significant expansion. Before joining Nvidia, she held finance positions at technology companies including Cisco and Microsoft.
Editorial Analysis
Why This Matters
Nvidia is a major supplier of processors and computing technology used in artificial intelligence. A change in its top leadership is significant for the global semiconductor industry, investors, technology companies and businesses that depend on its products. The appointment of an experienced internal executive provides interim leadership while the board searches for a permanent successor.
Huang's resignation follows a period of scrutiny surrounding reports of alleged personal relationships and concerns about a possible foreign intelligence effort. On November 8, Nvidia's board announced an independent investigation into reports that Huang had been targeted by foreign intelligence. The investigation is being overseen by a committee of independent directors with assistance from outside legal counsel.
In its November 8 statement, the board said it had no reason to believe that US national security or Nvidia's confidential information had been compromised. The company has not publicly established a connection between the investigation and Huang's subsequent resignation.
Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and led its transformation from a graphics-processing technology company into a major global supplier of artificial intelligence processors and accelerated computing systems.
The leadership transition places Kress in charge of the company on an interim basis while the board considers candidates for the permanent position. Nvidia has said that its operations, customer commitments and product roadmap are expected to continue without interruption.
The company is scheduled to announce its third-quarter fiscal 2027 financial results on November 17, as previously planned.
