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🚨 Jensen Huang Just Resigned as Nvidia CEO After 33 Years, and the Shares Fell More Than 10%

Jensen Huang has resigned as Nvidia CEO effective immediately after 33 years. CFO Colette Kress is interim CEO; shares fell over 10% premarket.

By Tech Arcade··2 min read

Jensen Huang Just Resigned as Nvidia CEO After 33 Years, and the Shares Fell More Than 10% — Tech Arcade
Photo: Brecht Corbeel / Unsplash

Jensen Huang has resigned as Nvidia’s president and CEO, effective immediately, ending a 33-year run at the company he co-founded. Nvidia announced it at 8:48am Eastern on Thursday 12 November (StockTitan/GlobeNewswire).

We covered the board’s independent investigation into Huang on Sunday. That has now ended in his exit. He is leaving the board too, and Nvidia shares fell more than 10% in premarket trading (Reuters via Business Recorder).

The company did not give a reason in its announcement (Investing.com).

⚡ What Happened

  • Colette Kress, Nvidia’s CFO since 2013, becomes interim CEO and keeps her CFO job until a permanent replacement is found (Investing.com).
  • Harvey C. Jones, former CEO of Synopsys, becomes the first chair in Nvidia’s history.
  • The board has started a search for a permanent CEO and will consider internal and external candidates.

“The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team.” — Harvey C. Jones, Nvidia chair (StockTitan)

The exit follows a fast-moving week. Earlier this month the board opened a probe, led by independent directors with outside counsel, into whether Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. Reports linked him to Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore cloud firm Megaspeed whom US authorities have concluded was a Chinese intelligence asset. Beijing denies she is a spy, and the two are not related. On Wednesday, the New York Times reported a separate affair with an Nvidia vice president who reported to him, and the board met that night to consider his removal (Reuters via Business Recorder).

🧠 Why It Matters

Nvidia is worth about $4 trillion, and its chips power almost every major AI lab. For most of the AI boom, Huang and his leather jacket were the company: he handled the big partnerships, the keynotes and the conversations with Washington.

He also owns roughly 3.61% of Nvidia, which makes him its fourth-largest investor. He has left management, but he still owns a large stake.

Kress is a safe pair of hands with the numbers. She has spent almost 25 years in finance roles at Cisco, Microsoft and Nvidia. What you don’t yet know is who will set Nvidia’s direction on product and on China.

🔜 What To Watch

  • Tuesday 17 November. Nvidia still plans to report third-quarter fiscal 2027 results at about 1:20pm PT, with the call at 2pm PT. That will be Kress’s first call as interim CEO.
  • The successor shortlist. An outside hire would be a far bigger change than an internal promotion.
  • Washington. Lawmakers had already demanded answers about Nvidia’s links to China, and those questions don’t leave with Huang (Yahoo Finance).

Details are still emerging, and the full findings of the board’s investigation have not been made public.

Sources

❓ Quick answers

Did Jensen Huang resign from Nvidia?

Yes. Nvidia announced on 12 November 2026 that Huang resigned as president, CEO and board member, effective immediately (Nvidia release via GlobeNewswire).

Who is Nvidia's new CEO?

CFO Colette Kress is interim CEO and keeps her CFO role while the board searches internally and externally for a permanent successor, per Nvidia's 12 November announcement.

Why did Jensen Huang leave Nvidia?

Nvidia gave no reason. Reuters reports it followed a board probe into his links to former Megaspeed executive Alice Huang and a New York Times report of an affair with an Nvidia VP.