Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns after reports of extramarital relationships
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has resigned in the wake of reports that he had multiple extramarital relationships, including one with a suspected agent of China and another with an executive who reports to him — a stunning turn of events for the head of a company at the heart of the global AI investment boom.In a statement, Nvidia’s board said: “Colette Kress, current Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of NVIDIA, has agreed to serve as Interim Chief Executive Officer.”The company also named its first chairman.
That role will be filled by Harvey Jones, who is a former CEO of major chip company Synopsys.The addition of a chairman is a major governance overhaul at the company that for decades relied solely on Huang.Nvidia’s board met Wednesday night to address Huang’s future at the company, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News, adding that the White House was aware of the meeting.Nvidia shares plunged more than 11% after the board’s announcement.Huang, 63, had been with Nvidia since he co-founded the Silicon Valley chipmaker in the early 1990s, and he presided over the company during its meteoric rise amid the AI boom of the past several years.In Collette Kress, Nvidia’s board selected a steady hand to steer the company in its most uncertain period ever.Kress has been the company’s chief financial officer since 2013.
She is a familiar face to Wall Street, regularly appearing at conferences and discussing the intricacies of the company’s sprawling operations.Before Nvidia, Kress worked at Cisco, another major technology company, and Microsoft.Kress, a highly regarded executive, is widely trusted by the Wall Street community.
Huang long leaned on her during financial conferences and the company’s earnings calls to debrief the investing public about the latest developments with the company’s operations.Kress’ ascension to the CEO suite comes after the second largest public company in the world was hit with multiple scan...