Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang has resigned, the company’s board announced on Thursday, 12 November, bringing an end to his 33-year leadership of the chipmaker he co-founded in 1993.
Huang stepped down as president and chief executive and as a member of the board, with his resignation taking effect immediately. The board said it had accepted his resignation on Wednesday.
Chief financial officer Colette Kress has been named interim chief executive and will continue as chief financial officer while the board searches for a permanent successor. Kress has been Nvidia’s executive vice president and chief financial officer since joining the company in 2013, and has led its finance organisation for 13 years.
The board also appointed Harvey C. Jones as its first-ever chair. Jones is a managing partner at Square Wave Ventures and a former chief executive of Synopsys, and has served on Nvidia’s board since 1993. He is expected to play a central role in the search for a permanent chief executive.
The resignation follows a week of damaging reports about Huang’s personal life. The board met on Wednesday, 11 November, after The Wall Street Journal reported that it was preparing to remove him. The New York Times then reported that Huang had had a second affair, with Nvidia executive Kimberly Powell. Huang had already admitted on 8 November that he had had an affair with a woman reported to be a suspected Chinese spy, and apologised for being unfaithful to his wife. President Donald Trump said on 9 November that the FBI was investigating the matter.
In a statement, the board said: “Jensen’s contributions to Nvidia are profound.” Kress said: “Nvidia’s strength has always been its people and its culture of relentless innovation.” She added that she was committed to building on the strong foundation Huang created.
Investors reacted sharply to the news. Nvidia shares fell nearly 12% in early trading on Thursday, opened down more than 13% — wiping more than half a trillion dollars off the company’s market value — and later recovered some ground to trade about 6% lower by mid-morning. Since Friday, the shares had fallen by as much as 19%, with more than $855 billion wiped off Nvidia’s market value.
Nvidia is due to report its latest financial results on Tuesday, 17 November.
Source: TechCrunch, with additional reporting from the BBC.
