The Nvidia board has officially announced that Jensen Huang has resigned as CEO following reports of his relationship with Kimberly Powell, an executive at the company. According to CNN, board chair Harvey Jones stated that the board has full confidence in Colette Kress and the leadership team, expecting company operations to continue without interruption. Nvidia shares opened down more than 13 percent on Thursday, wiping more than half a trillion dollars off the firm's share market value after Huang's resignation. The leadership transition comes as Nvidia has been built around Huang's leadership since he co-founded the company in 1993, making this a significant development for both the company and the broader technology sector.
Nvidia is undergoing a significant leadership transition following Jensen Huang's resignation as CEO after revelations of two extramarital affairs, including one with a woman accused of spying for China. According to reports from Mint, the chipmaker has announced Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as its interim CEO, while the search for a permanent candidate is currently underway. The company has not confirmed any permanent successor, with Kress serving as interim leadership during the selection process. Under the company's bylaws, a simple majority of the 11 directors can remove the chief executive, with or without cause.
Colette Kress, who has served as executive vice president and chief financial officer at Nvidia since joining the company in September 2013, has expressed her commitment to building on the company's foundation. According to CNN, Kress stated that Nvidia's strength has always come from its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years. She emphasized that the company will continue advancing the work that has made Nvidia a leader in accelerated computing and AI, and execute on the opportunities ahead, with focus remaining on serving customers, partners, developers and shareholders.
Jay Puri, whose full name is Ajay K. Puri, has emerged as a strong candidate for the CEO position according to multiple media reports. As reported by Mint, Puri joined Nvidia in 2005 as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and was later elevated to Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations. He spent 21 years at Nvidia and played a crucial role in handling the company's business across different nations. In August 2026, he stepped down from his executive role and currently holds the position of senior adviser at the company.
Ian Buck, who has been at Nvidia for more than 20 years and earned his Ph.D. at Stanford, has emerged as the leading engineering candidate according to prediction markets. As reported by Semafor, Buck helped create CUDA, the software platform that ties developers to Nvidia's chips and is considered the company's most important moat. On prediction market Polymarket, Buck leads with about a third of the odds, narrowly ahead of Ms. Kress, while on Kalshi, Buck most recently stood at 42 percent and Ms. Kress at 27 percent. Rene Haas, the chief executive of Arm who spent seven years at Nvidia early in his career, is also mentioned as a potential candidate, though he would have to leave Arm for the role. Johny Srouji, who leads Apple's in-house chip development, has also been floated as an external candidate, though he would be an outsider to Nvidia's culture.
