Nvidia’s Jensen Huang resigns as CEO; CFO Colette Kress named interim chief

Jensen Huang has resigned as president, chief executive officer and board member of Nvidia, effective immediately, the company announced on 12 November 2026. Colette Kress, Nvidia’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, will serve as interim chief executive while the board searches for a permanent successor. In her statement, Kress credited Huang with the foundation he “created over the last 33 years”.

The announcement was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 12 November as a current report on Form 8-K under item 5.02, which covers the departure and appointment of officers and directors, with the company’s press release attached.

What Nvidia said

The release, titled “NVIDIA Announces CEO Transition”, lists three changes:

• Jensen Huang resigns as president, CEO and member of the board.
• Colette Kress is appointed interim CEO. She “will continue to serve as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer while serving as Interim Chief Executive Officer until a permanent successor has been named.”
• Harvey C. Jones is appointed the company’s “first-ever Chair of the Board”. The release describes him as an entrepreneur, technology executive and venture investor for over 30 years, including as chief executive officer and executive chairman of Synopsys.

The board says it “is initiating a search for a permanent Chief Executive Officer and will consider internal and external candidates.”

The release does not give a reason for Huang’s resignation. On 9 November, CNBC reported that Nvidia’s board had opened an independent investigation after reports that Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort; Nvidia said Huang supports the review and will cooperate. The press release does not link the investigation to the resignation.

Who is Colette Kress

Kress has been Nvidia’s chief financial officer since September 2013. According to the release, she “has led the company’s finance organization and has played a key role in NVIDIA’s growth and evolution”, and before Nvidia she “spent nearly 25 years in finance roles at leading technology companies, including Cisco and Microsoft.”

In the statement, Jones said: “The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team, and we expect the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption.”

Kress said: “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 added that the company’s “focus remains on serving our customers, partners, developers and shareholders.”

Share price

Nvidia’s stock was already under pressure before the announcement: it closed down 4.27% on 9 November, CNBC reported, as investors weighed leadership risk around Huang. Nvidia has not commented on the share price in its release.

Earnings next week

Nvidia said it will report results for the third quarter of fiscal 2027 “on Tuesday, November 17, at approximately 1:20 p.m. PT, as previously scheduled, followed by its earnings call at 2 p.m. PT.” It will be the company’s first earnings report without Huang as chief executive.

What happens next

The board’s search will consider both internal and external candidates, and Kress keeps both the interim CEO and CFO roles until a permanent chief executive is named. The separation of the chair role, now held by Jones, is new for Nvidia: the release calls it the board’s “first-ever Chair.”

Header photo: NVIDIA Headquarters by Coolcaesar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped; this crop is released under the same licence.

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