Update — 17:15 IST, 13 November 2026: Huang has agreed to testify before the US Congress about the affair and the alleged Chinese intelligence links, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Brian Mast said on Thursday — Huang agreed on Wednesday, hours before his resignation was announced, after lawmakers threatened him with a subpoena, and Mast said the committees would issue one if he withdrew his agreement. The closed-door briefing, involving the Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and China committees, is expected before Thanksgiving (26 November) and to be filmed and transcribed. Separately, Senate Banking Committee chairman Tim Scott has urged Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to appear before his committee next month, with Lutnick asked to testify at a 10 December hearing on NVIDIA and the Commerce Department's handling of the national-security issues. Malaysia has also opened an investigation into a subsidiary of Megaspeed — the Singapore data-centre firm at the centre of the affair allegations — over the possible diversion of advanced AI chips to other countries.
Jensen Huang in 2026. Image: Anders Eidesvik, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
TL;DR — Nvidia founder Jensen Huang has resigned as president, CEO and board member with immediate effect, ending a 33-year run at the top of the world's leading AI chipmaker. CFO Colette Kress is interim CEO, Harvey C. Jones becomes the board's first-ever chair, and Nvidia's shares fell more than 13% as the board searches for a permanent successor.
📌 Key Highlights
- Nvidia announced on Thursday, 12 November 2026, that Jensen Huang has resigned as president, CEO and board member, effective immediately; the board accepted his resignation on 11 November.
- CFO Colette Kress — finance chief since September 2013 — is interim CEO and keeps her CFO role while the board searches for a permanent successor.
- Longtime director Harvey C. Jones, 73, a former Synopsys chief, becomes Nvidia's first-ever board chair.
- Nvidia gave no reason. The resignation follows Huang's public apology for infidelity and a board investigation into reports he was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation.
- Shares fell more than 13% in early trading on Thursday. Nvidia still reports third-quarter results on Tuesday, 17 November.
What happened?
Nvidia's board announced the change on Thursday, 12 November 2026, in a short statement and a regulatory filing. Huang, 63, co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and had led it ever since — a 33-year tenure that built the world's most valuable AI company. He steps down from all three roles at once. Huang owns about 3.6% of Nvidia's stock, making him its largest shareholder, and has no obvious successor, according to USA Today.
Colette Kress, 59, Nvidia's finance chief since September 2013, is interim chief executive while keeping her CFO role. The board also named Harvey C. Jones, 73, a longtime director and former Synopsys chief, as its first-ever chair, and said it will consider internal and external candidates for a permanent chief executive. Jones said the board has "full confidence in Colette and the leadership team" and expects "operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption."
The leadership change at a glance
| Role | Who | What we know |
|---|---|---|
| Outgoing CEO | Jensen Huang, 63 | Co-founder; president and CEO since 1993; resigned from all three roles with immediate effect |
| Interim CEO | Colette Kress, 59 | EVP and CFO since September 2013; keeps the CFO role; previously about 25 years at Cisco and Microsoft |
| First-ever board chair | Harvey C. Jones, 73 | Longtime Nvidia director; former CEO and executive chairman of Synopsys |
| Permanent CEO search | Board-led | Internal and external candidates being considered; no timeline given |
| Next milestone | Q3 FY27 results | Tuesday, 17 November, about 1:20 p.m. PT, followed by an earnings call at 2 p.m. PT |
Jensen Huang speaking at Stanford University in April 2026. Image: Anders Eidesvik, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Why did Jensen Huang resign?
Nvidia's announcement gave no reason. The context built over the previous week. On 8 November, Huang emailed Nvidia staff — the company published the message — saying: "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children. There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry." The same day, the board opened an independent investigation into reports that Huang had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation.
The reports centre on Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, a Singapore-based businesswoman US intelligence officials suspect of spying for China — first reported by The New York Times in October 2025 — and on a reported affair with Kimberly Powell, a Nvidia vice-president, according to The Wall Street Journal and The Economic Times. Outside counsel was retained to run the investigation, and on 11 November The Wall Street Journal reported directors were preparing to remove Huang. He resigned a day later. The reports allege Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort, not that he cooperated with one, and the board's findings have not been published.
Why it matters for India and the world
Nvidia sits at the centre of the global AI build-out: its chips power the data centres, cloud platforms and AI labs that businesses and governments — including in India — depend on. Markets reacted fast: shares fell more than 13% in early trading on Thursday, after dropping about 8% in after-hours trading on Wednesday when The Wall Street Journal reported the board was preparing to remove Huang. Reuters reported roughly $500 billion of market value was at risk during Thursday's trading.
For Indian readers, the impact is on markets and the AI ecosystem rather than products: the board says operations, customer commitments and the roadmap continue without interruption, and the 17 November earnings report is the first public test of the new leadership. Product work goes on — Nvidia only just unveiled its GR00T 2 humanoid robot model this week — and US President Donald Trump has weighed in, saying Apple chief Tim Cook should replace Huang, according to USA Today.
What happens next?
Kress told staff she will share more information in the coming days and host a company meeting on 18 November, The Wall Street Journal reported. Bloomberg reports the board had been working with an outside search firm. The next hard date is Tuesday, 17 November: third-quarter results at about 1:20 p.m. PT, then an earnings call at 2 p.m. PT — the first earnings under Kress. See also our explainers on OpenAI's local API processing in India and Recursive Sparse Attention for million-token context.
Should you care?
✅ Verdict: If you hold Nvidia stock or follow AI, yes — watch the 17 November earnings and the CEO search. For everyone else, nothing changes today: Nvidia says its products and roadmap continue as planned, so this is a leadership story to follow, not a reason to change a purchase or upgrade plan.
FAQs
Why did Jensen Huang resign from Nvidia?
Nvidia's announcement gave no reason. The resignation came days after Huang publicly apologised for being unfaithful to his wife and the board opened an independent investigation into reports that he had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. The board's findings have not been published.
Who is Nvidia's interim CEO?
Colette Kress, Nvidia's executive vice-president and chief financial officer since September 2013. She keeps her CFO responsibilities while serving as interim CEO until the board names a permanent successor.
What happened to Nvidia's share price?
Shares fell more than 13% in early trading on Thursday, 12 November, opening down 13.09% at $150.99, after dropping about 8% in after-hours trading on Wednesday.
When will Nvidia name a permanent CEO?
There is no timeline yet. The board has started a formal search and will consider internal and external candidates. The next milestone is the third-quarter results announcement on Tuesday, 17 November.
Takeaway
Jensen Huang's 33-year run at Nvidia ended in a single day, and the company now has to prove that its AI leadership outlasts its founder. The 17 November earnings call is the first place to look for that proof.
Read Nvidia's official announcement in the Sources below, and check back after the earnings for what Kress says next.
Sources
- NVIDIA Newsroom — NVIDIA Announces CEO Transition (primary source)
- NVIDIA Newsroom — Statement From NVIDIA Board of Directors (8 November investigation)
- NVIDIA Newsroom — A Message to Our Company (Huang's 8 November apology)
- TechCrunch — Nvidia's Jensen Huang resigns, chipmaker names CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO
- USA Today — Jensen Huang resigns as Nvidia CEO amid affair probe
- The Wall Street Journal — Jensen Huang Has Been Ousted as Nvidia CEO
- The Indian Express — Nvidia chief Jensen Huang resigns, CFO Colette Kress named interim CEO
- CNBC-TV18 — NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang resigns; Colette Kress to lead company for now
- TechCrunch — Jensen Huang agrees to testify before Congress
- The Hindu BusinessLine — Jensen Huang to testify before US Congress in Nvidia probe over alleged China links
- Republic World — Ex-Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Howard Lutnick summoned to testify before US Senate
- Le Temps — Congress to question former Nvidia boss soon as Malaysia opens investigation into Megaspeed
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