Jensen Huang, the founder who built Nvidia into one of the world's most valuable companies, has resigned as chief executive after 33 years.
Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress has been appointed interim chief executive, the board said on Thursday, while it considers internal and external candidates for the permanent job.
What the board said
"Colette has helped lead NVIDIA through a period of extraordinary growth and has a deep understanding of our business, customers, operations and financial position," said Harvey Jones, who was named Nvidia's first-ever board chair in the same announcement.
Jones added that the board expects "the company's operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption."
Kress will keep her current role as executive vice president and CFO until a permanent chief executive is found. After more than a decade as CFO she has been the most visible Nvidia executive to investors and the public after Huang himself.
How it unravelled
The leadership change came days after the board said it would investigate whether Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort, following reports of his relationship with a woman US officials believe is a Chinese spy.
That inquiry followed reports that Huang was in a close relationship with Alice Huang, a Chinese citizen who has worked for the Singapore-based firm Megaspeed, an Nvidia customer. US officials suspected her of working with Chinese intelligence, and the Financial Times reported that officials believed the relationship was romantic.
Shortly afterwards the New York Times reported that Huang had also had an affair with an executive who reported to him. On Sunday he admitted to an extramarital affair, without naming the other party, and apologised to his family and colleagues.
The market's reaction
Nvidia shares dropped more than 10% in pre-market trading on Thursday.
Nvidia called Huang's contributions "profound" and thanked him for his "immeasurable contributions to the company and the industry."
Why this is larger than one company
Huang is as responsible as anyone for starting the AI boom. The chips made by the company he founded in 1993 became the foundation of AI infrastructure, putting Nvidia at the centre of the global buildout and Huang himself inside President Donald Trump's circle.
Appointing a CFO as interim chief and naming a board chair for the first time are both defensive moves. They say the priority is continuity of supply and reassurance to customers, not a change of direction.
That matters here. Bangladesh's AI plans, its data-centre proposals and every training programme built on the assumption of cheap, available accelerators all sit downstream of one company's roadmap. Nothing about the chips has changed this week. What has changed is that the person who personally guaranteed that roadmap to customers is no longer the one making it.
What to watch next
Two things will say more than any statement. The first is whether the permanent appointment comes from inside Nvidia or outside it: an internal promotion signals the board believes the strategy is sound and only the figurehead has gone, while an outside hire signals it does not. The second is the next earnings call, which will be the first run by someone other than Huang — and the first test of whether customers treated their commitments as being to the company or to him.
