Jensen Huang Resigns from NVIDIA Effective Immediately: CFO Colette Kress Named Interim CEO, Harvey C. Jones Appointed Chair as Stock Plunges 13%

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In a historic leadership shake-up that ends a 33-year tenure at the helm of the world’s most consequential AI chipmaker, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) officially announced on November 12, 2026, that co-founder Jensen Huang has resigned as President, Chief Executive Officer, and member of the Board of Directors, effective immediately.

To stabilize daily operations and reassure enterprise customers, NVIDIA’s Board of Directors has appointed long-serving Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as Interim Chief Executive Officer. Kress will retain her existing CFO responsibilities while the Board conducts a formal executive search evaluating both internal and external candidates for a permanent successor. Simultaneously, the Board named longtime director Harvey C. Jones as NVIDIA’s first-ever Chair of the Board.

The abrupt departure follows two weeks of intensifying corporate governance and national security scrutiny surrounding Huang’s personal relationships. Financial markets reacted swiftly to the sudden vacuum at the top of the AI supply chain, sending NVIDIA shares tumbling more than 13% at the opening bell on Thursday and dragging its market capitalization below the $4 trillion mark for the first time since July 2025.

What Happened at NVIDIA? The Full Timeline of Events

Huang’s resignation marks a dramatic reversal for an executive who co-founded NVIDIA in 1993 and transformed it from a PC graphics card supplier into the foundational infrastructure provider of the generative AI era. The sequence of events leading to his departure unfolded rapidly across late October and November 2026:

• October 29, 2026 – National Security & Megaspeed Disclosures: The New York Times reported that US intelligence and federal officials had spent over a year investigating Megaspeed-a Southeast Asian technology firm tied to moving restricted NVIDIA AI chips into Chinese markets-and flagged a close personal relationship between Huang and Alice Huang (no relation), a Chinese businesswoman and former Megaspeed executive whom US officials suspect of operating as an intelligence asset for China’s Ministry of State Security.
• November 8–10, 2026 – Internal Board Probe & Congressional Scrutiny: NVIDIA’s independent directors retained an external US law firm to investigate whether company secrets or national security protocols were compromised, while Huang acknowledged infidelity to employees. Three Republican House committee chairs-representing the China Select Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee, and House Intelligence Committee-requested a formal private briefing with Huang regarding export-control oversight.
• November 11, 2026 – Second Executive Relationship Report: A follow-up report from The New York Times revealed allegations of a second extramarital relationship involving Kimberly Powell, NVIDIA’s 48-year-old Vice President of Healthcare and a direct subordinate to Huang, citing witness accounts and video footage recorded at a San Jose hotel during a March 2026 conference.
• November 12, 2026 – Immediate Resignation & Leadership Overhaul: Following emergency board deliberations, NVIDIA released its official transition notice confirming Huang’s immediate exit from all executive and board roles, naming Colette Kress Interim CEO, and establishing the new Chair of the Board position.

Who Is Taking Over? Colette Kress & Harvey C. Jones

NVIDIA’s Board moved quickly to separate executive management from board oversight by elevating two veteran insiders:

• Colette Kress (Interim Chief Executive Officer & CFO): Joining NVIDIA in September 2013 after nearly 25 years in senior finance leadership roles at Cisco and Microsoft, Kress has been the primary financial architect behind NVIDIA’s hyperscale data center expansion. Known intimately by institutional Wall Street investors, cloud hyperscalers, and supply chain partners, Kress will maintain dual responsibilities as Interim CEO and CFO to ensure continuity across chip production schedules and customer deliveries.
• Harvey C. Jones (First-Ever Chair of the Board): Previously, NVIDIA operated without a formal Board Chair, relying on a lead independent director structure. Appointing Jones-a 73-year-old Silicon Valley semiconductor veteran, former CEO of Synopsys, co-founder of Daisy Systems and Tensilica, and a continuous NVIDIA board director since November 1993-introduces direct governance oversight during the CEO search.

In its official tribute, the Board emphasized that NVIDIA’s technical leadership bench remains intact and stated that company operations, customer commitments, and the AI product roadmap are expected to continue without interruption.

NVIDIA Stock Impact & Wall Street Market Reaction

Because Jensen Huang’s personal leadership, supplier relationships with TSMC, and direct ties with hyperscale CEOs were widely viewed by investors as central to NVIDIA’s competitive moat, his exit triggered an immediate sell-off across global tech equities:

• 13%+ Opening Plunge: After dropping roughly 8.6% in after-hours trading on Wednesday night amid rumors of board deliberations, NVIDIA (NVDA) shares crashed between 13.09% and 13.93% at Thursday’s market open, falling from Wednesday’s close of $173.73 down to an intraday low near $149.79–$150.98.
• Sub-$4 Trillion Valuation: The single-day sell-off erased roughly $500 billion in opening market capitalization-bringing NVIDIA’s cumulative weekly market value loss to nearly $888 billion from its recent highs and pushing the company’s total valuation below $4 trillion for the first time since July 2025.
• 14-Year Valuation Multiple Low: According to LSEG market data, the steep share price pullback compressed NVIDIA’s forward price-to-earnings ratio to roughly 12.2× expected earnings, marking its lowest valuation multiple since 2012.
• Analyst Downgrades & Succession Debate: Several Wall Street brokerages-including Robert W. Baird, Evercore ISI, Bernstein, and KeyBanc-issued cautious notes or downgrades citing governance uncertainty. Prominent tech analysts noted that while Kress provides steady financial stewardship, NVIDIA’s Board will ultimately need a deeply technical semiconductor leader to guide its post-Blackwell and Rubin GPU roadmaps.

NVIDIA Leadership & Governance Snapshot: Before vs. After

What Happens Next? Key Catalysts to Watch

1. Q3 FY27 Earnings Call (November 17, 2026): NVIDIA confirmed that it will report its third-quarter fiscal 2027 financial results as scheduled on Tuesday, November 17, at 1:20 p.m. PT, followed by its earnings call at 2:00 p.m. PT. Interim CEO Colette Kress will face direct questioning from institutional analysts regarding enterprise AI demand, supply chain stability, and governance guardrails.
2. US Export-Control & Congressional Inquiries: Washington lawmakers and trade officials have signaled continued scrutiny over third-party chip routing in Asia. How NVIDIA’s reconstituted leadership cooperates with federal export-control oversight will play a decisive role in restoring institutional confidence.
3. The Permanent CEO Search: While Kress brings operational discipline, NVIDIA’s long-term dominance rests on silicon architecture, CUDA software lock-in, and data center networking. Investors will closely watch whether the Board promotes an internal engineering chief or recruits an external semiconductor heavyweight to permanently fill Huang’s shoes.