Nvidia: Jensen Huang Resigns as CEO, President and Board Member, Effective Immediately

Context

Nvidia's newsroom posted that Jensen Huang has resigned as CEO, president and board member, effective immediately. The company's release names Colette Kress, the current CFO, as interim CEO, and Harvey C. Jones as the first chair of the board. Walter Bloomberg, posting as DeItaone, and Unusual Whales later reported, citing Reuters, that Huang had a relationship with a second employee, and DeItaone said Reuters linked him to a third affair. This follows the November 11 Wall Street Journal report that Nvidia's board was preparing to remove Huang.

Deep dive

Nvidia's newsroom posted on November 12 that the company announced a CEO transition. The board said Jensen Huang has resigned as president, chief executive officer, and a board member, effective immediately. It appointed CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO, said she will keep the CFO role until a permanent successor is named, and started a search of internal and external candidates. The board appointed Harvey C. Jones as the first chair of the board, thanked Huang, and said it still plans to report third quarter fiscal 2027 results on November 17.

The Kobeissi Letter posted that President Trump called for former Apple CEO Tim Cook to become Nvidia's next CEO, a secondhand claim that is not in Nvidia's announcement, and that neocloud stocks such as Nebius and CoreWeave fell.

Later on November 12, Walter Bloomberg, posting as DeItaone, and Unusual Whales, citing Reuters and two sources, said Huang had an intimate relationship with another company employee. DeItaone said this followed two previously reported affairs involving Nvidia healthcare VP Kimberly Powell and Alice Huang, that Nvidia declined to comment, and that Huang and the board did not respond to Reuters. DeItaone, citing The Information, also posted that Nvidia will continue its investigation into the former CEO and alleged Chinese spy. Reuters posted that the US Justice Department has not concluded Alice Huang was a Chinese spy, according to Blanche. Unusual Whales, citing Bloomberg, said the Justice Department is investigating whether companies tied to Alice Huang helped smuggle Super Micro products into China, and that the DOJ is separately investigating Megaspeed International, which the post calls Huang's former company; Megaspeed denies wrongdoing. Unusual Whales, citing Politico, said the US Senate banking chairman has called Huang and Howard Lutnick to testify over Nvidia and China allegations.

Later, Natasha Bertrand posted that sources told CNN the intelligence so far does not prove Alice Huang spied for Beijing. Unusual Whales, citing The Information, said firms tied to her invested in DeepSeek, and WIRED said an internal post backing Huang's return drew over 1,600 comments.

What to expect next

Watch for Nvidia to name a permanent CEO, and for any comment from Huang. The company is still scheduled to report earnings on November 17, which will be the first official update under interim leadership. A Senate request for testimony, if it goes ahead, would put Huang and Lutnick on the record about the China allegations. Investors will also be watching how the investigations described by Reuters, The Information and Bloomberg develop, and whether the product roadmap and customer commitments continue as the board said they would.