Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned Thursday morning after revelations about two extramarital affairs surfaced, including one with an alleged Chinese spy.
The company said it has appointed Colette Kress, who joined the company in 2014, as Huang’s interim successor. Kress, current Nvidia EVP and CFO, will serve as CEO “until a permanent successor has been named,” according to a statement.
“The Board is initiating a search for a permanent Chief Executive Officer and will consider internal and external candidates,” the company added.
Huang co-founded NVIDIA in April 1993 and has led the company for over three decades – leaving huge boots to fill and deep personal relationships with the company's web of suppliers to pick up. (Over 1.5 million components go into each of its Grace Blackwell racks.)
He turned it from a minnow into the colossus of the AI world: NVIDIA achieved record full-year revenue of $130.5 billion in fiscal 2025 and last quarter alone ending July 26, 2026 reported revenues of $96.2 billion.
Nic Puckrin, cross-asset analyst and founder of Coin Bureau, told The Stack that the company now faces a turbulent period.
“Their mistake was not having a clear succession plan for Jensen. Colette Kress is an obvious choice as interim CEO, companies often turn to finance chiefs in times of turmoil like this, but her appointment is just a stop-gap,” he said.
Puckrin added that, in addition to managing the political fallout and cooperating with any investigations into national security risks, Nvidia will have to scramble to find a long-term replacement for Jensen.
“Those are big shoes to fill, not least because he was so heavily involved in the tech giant’s day-to-day, but also in related investments and regulation,” he said.
Puckrin added that the scandal could also affect regulation around AI chip sales to China and could hit Nvidia’s revenue.
Yet, he added that he doesn’t think this is the death knell for the AI trade.
“There is other news on the horizon that could draw attention away from Nvidia, including next week’s planned Anthropic IPO. But a revival of investor confidence in other tech businesses doesn’t preclude the possibility of the Nvidia scandal deepening,” he said.
Shares were down 12% on Thursday morning.
The company will release its earnings on November 17.
More reaction to follow.
