Jensen Huang steps down as Nvidia CEO; CFO Colette Kress takes over as interim chief

Nvidia said on November 12 that Jensen Huang has resigned as president, chief executive and board member, effective immediately. CFO Colette Kress becomes interim CEO, and no permanent successor has been named, according to the official announcement.

Who runs Nvidia from today

Under the announcement, Kress, the company’s executive vice president and CFO, takes the interim CEO role and keeps the CFO job until a permanent chief executive is in place. She joined Nvidia in September 2013, and Nvidia says she spent almost 25 years before that in finance roles at technology companies, including Cisco and Microsoft.

The board also created a new post. Harvey C. Jones, a longtime entrepreneur, technology executive and venture investor who previously served as CEO and executive chairman of Synopsys, is the first Chair of the Board in Nvidia’s history. Until now Huang held the top executive and board seats himself.

The board says it will consider both internal and external candidates for the permanent role. It gave no timetable and no shortlist.

Jones said in the release: “The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team.” The board also thanked Huang for his “immeasurable contributions” to the company and its industry.

The announcement leaves the reason unstated

The release does not say why Huang is leaving, and it does not describe his future role, if any, at the company. It also does not say whether the departure is connected to anything else. Readers should treat any explanation circulating elsewhere as unconfirmed by Nvidia.

The timing is notable for another reason. Nvidia reports third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday, November 17, with the earnings call at 2 p.m. PT, a date the company says was already scheduled. The first quarterly call under an interim CEO will therefore take place five days after the change.

A leadership vacuum in the middle of a probe

The analysis here is about strategy: what the structure of the change signals. Splitting the chair and CEO roles and promoting the finance chief, rather than naming an operating executive, reads as a stopgap that keeps the company stable while the board takes its time. That is an interpretation, not something Nvidia states.

It also lands days after a separate development. According to our earlier report, Nvidia’s board announced on November 8 an independent investigation involving Huang, overseen by a committee of independent directors with outside counsel. The board said it was responding to recent reports that Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort. Nvidia has not confirmed those reports, and the board said it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised. Beijing denied the reports, according to AFP.

The market reaction was sharp. AFP reported that Nvidia shares fell nearly 9% early on Monday, November 9, and were down about 5.5% later in the session. AFP also reported that the House Select Committee on China asked Huang to appear in Washington on November 18 for a closed-door briefing on Nvidia’s security protocols. The new announcement does not mention the investigation or that request, so it is not established whether the resignation relates to either.

What to watch before and after November 17

For customers and partners, the announcement itself contains no change to products, roadmaps or supply commitments. Nothing in it addresses guidance, pricing or the company’s AI chip plans, so those remain as Nvidia last stated them.

Open questions are concrete: whether the board names a permanent CEO from inside or outside the company, whether Huang keeps any ties to Nvidia, how Kress handles the dual CEO and CFO workload, and what the earnings call says about the leadership process. Nvidia directs media questions to [email protected] and investor questions to [email protected].