Jensen Huang Resigns as Nvidia CEO After 33 Years

Jensen Huang has resigned as president, chief executive and board member of Nvidia with immediate effect, ending a 33-year run at the company he co-founded in 1993. The announcement, made on Thursday 12 November 2026, puts the world’s most valuable chipmaker under interim leadership five days before its quarterly earnings — and leaves the central supplier of the AI boom without the founder who built it.

Quick answer: Jensen Huang has resigned as Nvidia CEO with immediate effect after 33 years. CFO Colette Kress is interim CEO while the board searches for a successor.

What exactly did Nvidia announce?

Nvidia’s board announced the resignation in a short press release on 12 November. It gave no reason for the departure.

“The Board of Directors announced today that Jensen Huang has resigned as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board, effective immediately.” — Nvidia Board of Directors, 12 November 2026, as quoted by the Indian Express

In the same announcement, the board named chief financial officer Colette Kress as interim chief executive and appointed Harvey C. Jones, the former chief executive of Synopsys, as its first-ever chair of the board. The board said it had begun a search for a permanent chief executive and would consider internal and external candidates. Kress will keep her finance role while she serves as interim chief executive.

Who is Colette Kress, the interim CEO?

Kress has been Nvidia’s executive vice president and chief financial officer since 2013, making her one of the longest-serving members of Huang’s leadership team. Because she keeps her finance role while leading the company, Nvidia’s finance and operations leadership stays in the same hands during the transition. Kress has told staff that a company-wide meeting will take place on 18 November, where more announcements are expected, according to The National News.

Why did Jensen Huang resign?

Nvidia has not said. The resignation followed several days of intense scrutiny, and the honest position is that the public record contains reports, not a confirmed finding. Here is what is on the record:

On Sunday 8 November, Huang admitted to an extramarital affair and apologised to his family and colleagues, without naming the other party.
The New York Times and other outlets reported that one relationship involved Alice Huang, a Singapore-based technology executive whom US intelligence officials suspect of spying for China. That suspicion is a report, not a proven fact.
The New York Times reported on 11 November that Huang also had an affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare.
On 8 November, Nvidia’s board announced an independent-director investigation into whether Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence operation. President Donald Trump said the same day that the FBI was also investigating.
CNN reported that the board convened on Wednesday night, 11 November, to weigh whether to remove Huang, after the second report appeared.

None of this is Nvidia’s stated reason for the resignation, because Nvidia has given none. The espionage question remains under investigation, and the resignation should not be read as a verdict on it.

What is confirmed and what is only reported

Claim	Status	Source
Huang resigned as president, CEO and board member, effective immediately	Confirmed	Nvidia press release, 12 Nov 2026
Colette Kress is interim CEO; Harvey C. Jones is the board’s first chair	Confirmed	Nvidia press release, 12 Nov 2026
Huang admitted an extramarital affair on 8 Nov and apologised	Confirmed by Huang’s own statement	Reported by CNN, 12 Nov 2026
Affair with Alice Huang, whom US intelligence officials suspect of spying for China	Reported, not a proven fact	New York Times / Wall Street Journal / Reuters reporting
Second affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s VP of healthcare	Reported	New York Times, 11 Nov 2026
FBI investigating whether Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation	Reported	President Trump said so on 8 Nov 2026
Tim Cook to succeed Huang	Not a nomination — a suggestion by President Trump on social media	Indian Express, 13 Nov 2026
Nvidia gave a reason for the resignation	No — Nvidia gave no reason	Nvidia press release, 12 Nov 2026

What happened to Nvidia’s share price?

Investors reacted sharply. Nvidia shares fell more than 10% in pre-market trading on Thursday 12 November and were down as much as 13–14% during the day, according to reports. They closed down 4.44%, a much steeper fall than the Nasdaq’s 0.39% drop that day, The National News reported. Reports also said Nvidia’s market value slipped below $4 trillion during the sell-off.

The scale of the move shows how much of Nvidia’s valuation investors had tied to Huang personally — the founder who, as CNN put it, was “largely responsible for kicking off the AI boom”. Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem and had led it ever since, with no clear successor in sight.

What happens next?

Three dates matter first:

17 November: Nvidia reports third-quarter fiscal 2027 results at about 1:20 pm PT, followed by its earnings call at 2 pm PT. The company confirmed the schedule stands, so Kress’s first earnings call as interim chief executive comes five days after the resignation.
18 November: the company-wide meeting Kress has called for staff.
The weeks after: the board’s search for a permanent chief executive, with internal and external candidates both in play. President Trump suggested on social media that former Apple chief executive Tim Cook should take the role — a suggestion, not a nomination, and there is no sign Cook is a candidate.

Huang has also agreed to testify before Congress, according to reports, after House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Brian Mast sought his testimony.

What Huang’s exit means for the AI chip race

Nvidia is the central supplier of the AI boom: its GPUs train and run the models from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and Meta, and its data-centre business is the engine of its valuation. A leadership vacuum at the top of that supplier matters even if the chips keep shipping. The same volatile market is already repricing AI companies — Anthropic’s IPO roadshow is unfolding against it — and Anthropic’s own assessment that AI progress is accelerating only raises the stakes for whoever supplies the compute.

Three things to watch:

The earnings call on 17 November. Kress’s first outing as interim chief executive is the first chance for investors to hear whether guidance, chip demand and delivery commitments are unchanged.
The succession choice. An internal successor keeps Huang’s strategy intact; an outsider signals the board wants a different kind of leadership. Either way, the search will run while Congress and the FBI investigation are still live.
Customer confidence. Labs and cloud providers plan chip purchases quarters ahead, and self-hosting frontier models still depends on Nvidia-class GPUs. Watch for any change in roadmap language or delivery commitments — that, not the share price, is the real signal.

Our take: the honest read is that the market punished uncertainty, not a broken business. The 4.44% close, against a 13–14% intraday fall, suggests investors sold the shock first and then weighed the fact that Nvidia’s products, customers and order book are unchanged. The risk is not that Nvidia forgets how to build chips; it is that a drawn-out succession, or a Congress hearing that pulls in new disclosures, keeps the uncertainty alive into 2027.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did Jensen Huang resign as Nvidia CEO?

Nvidia has given no reason. The resignation followed reports of two extramarital affairs and an investigation into whether Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation, but the company has not linked the resignation to any of those reports, and the espionage question is still under investigation.

Who is Nvidia’s interim CEO?

Colette Kress, Nvidia’s executive vice president and chief financial officer since 2013. She keeps her finance role while serving as interim chief executive until a permanent successor is named.

Who will be Nvidia’s next permanent CEO?

Nobody has been named. Nvidia’s board is searching for a permanent chief executive and says it will consider internal and external candidates. President Trump suggested former Apple chief executive Tim Cook on social media, but that is a suggestion, not a nomination.

Will Nvidia’s earnings on 17 November still go ahead?

Yes. Nvidia confirmed it will report third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday 17 November at about 1:20 pm PT, followed by its earnings call at 2 pm PT, as previously scheduled.

Does Huang’s resignation change Nvidia’s AI chips or roadmap?

No change has been announced. Nvidia’s products, customers and order book are unchanged; the uncertainty is about leadership, not technology. The things to watch are the 17 November earnings call and any change in roadmap or delivery commitments.

Sources and Methodology

Claims in this article were verified on 13 November 2026 against Nvidia’s own press release (as quoted by the Indian Express) and reporting from Al Jazeera, CNN, the Indian Express and The National News. Allegations about Huang’s personal life are labelled as reported, not confirmed; Nvidia has given no reason for the resignation. Desk-researched, not hands-on tested.

Govind Dheda

Govind Dheda covers AI tools, guides and prompts for OpenAIMaster — what is new, what is worth using, and how to put AI to work.