Jensen Huang Resigns as Nvidia CEO After 33 Years
Thursday morning began like any other on Wall Street. Then the announcement landed, and the most powerful company in artificial intelligence suddenly had no chief executive.
Jensen Huang, the co-founder who built Nvidia from a tiny graphics-card startup into the engine room of the global AI boom, had resigned. Effective immediately. No farewell tour, no transition period, no successor waiting in the wings.
By the opening bell, Nvidia shares were in free fall, and one question hung over the tech industry: what happens to the AI boom when its most important leader walks out the door?
Jensen Huang Resigns: The Announcement That Shook the AI Industry
Nvidia confirmed the news in a short statement on Thursday, November 12: Jensen Huang had resigned as president, chief executive officer, and a member of the board, effective immediately.
The board accepted his resignation on Wednesday, according to a regulatory filing reported by TechCrunch. The company gave no reason for his departure in the announcement.
The board offered only a brief note of thanks for his “immeasurable contributions to the company and the industry.”
Huang, 63, had led Nvidia since co-founding it in 1993. Over 33 years he turned a company that made chips for video games into a $4.2 trillion giant that supplies the processors behind almost every major AI system on the planet.
He leaves with no executive role and no seat on the board. He remains, however, one of Nvidia’s largest shareholders, owning roughly 3.6% of the company.
Colette Kress Named Interim CEO as Nvidia Searches for a Successor
Colette Kress, Nvidia’s long-serving chief financial officer, will lead the company while the board searches for a permanent replacement.
Kress, Nvidia’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, has agreed to serve as interim chief executive while keeping her finance role.
“I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years,” Kress said in the announcement.
The board will consider internal and external candidates. Nvidia has never publicly named a successor, and analysts have long noted that no obvious heir was waiting in the wings.
The board also appointed Harvey C. Jones, a longtime director and former Synopsys chief executive, as its first-ever chair.
What Pushed Jensen Huang Out of Nvidia
Nvidia did not link Huang’s resignation to any specific event. But the departure followed a chaotic week in which reports about his personal life collided with a national-security investigation.
The controversy began with reports of Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based data firm Megaspeed. United States intelligence officials suspect her of having links to Chinese intelligence, according to reports.
On November 8, Huang told employees he had been unfaithful and apologised to his family and colleagues. The same day, Nvidia said independent directors would investigate whether he had been the target of a foreign intelligence operation.
The board hired law firm Wachtell Lipton to lead the inquiry. A shareholder class action was filed on November 9, and House committee chairmen have sought a closed-door briefing with Huang on November 18.
Then a second report landed. The New York Times alleged that Huang had also had an affair with Kimberly Powell, 48, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare, who reported directly to him. The report cited five company employees and described video of affectionate behaviour at a San Jose hotel in March.
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that the board was meeting to decide whether to oust Huang. By Thursday morning, he had resigned.
Nvidia Shares Plunge as Investors React to the Resignation
The market’s verdict arrived fast and brutal. Nvidia shares closed Wednesday at $173.73, then fell about 8% in after-hours trading as reports of the board meeting spread.
On Thursday, the stock plunged more than 10% in premarket trading to around $156. When the market opened, shares fell further, dropping 13% to $150.98 at one point.
The sell-off has wiped out roughly $600 billion of Nvidia’s market value this week alone. Measured from November 3, the stock has lost about a quarter of its value, erasing more than $1 trillion in market capitalisation.
Nvidia’s market value was heading below $4 trillion for the first time since July 2025. The decline puts the stock on course for its steepest fall since 2012, according to Moneycontrol.
Prominent tech analyst Dan Ives noted that Nvidia looks worth about 25% less without Huang guiding its long-term product roadmap, according to Axios.
The damage spread beyond Nvidia. CoreWeave, the Nvidia-backed cloud computing company, fell around 13.6% in premarket trading, according to Reuters. Global AI-linked stocks sank across Asia and Europe as investors reassessed the sector.
Who Could Lead Nvidia Next?
The search for Huang’s successor is now the most watched hiring decision in technology. Two names have already emerged, according to reports.
Johny Srouji, Apple’s chief hardware officer, is among the executives whose names have surfaced as potential candidates, Semafor reported on Thursday. Srouji leads Apple’s silicon efforts and is one of the most respected chip executives in the industry.
Michael Kagan, Nvidia’s chief technology officer, is another name in the frame. Kagan knows Nvidia’s technology and customers from the inside, which could matter at a moment when stability is prized.
Whoever takes the job must run a company whose chips power the world’s AI ambitions, manage governments that treat those chips as strategic assets, and calm investors who have just watched a quarter of its value disappear in days.
Why Jensen Huang’s Exit Matters for the Whole AI Industry
Huang was not just another chief executive. He was the public face of the AI boom, the person who convinced the world that graphics chips could become the foundation of a new industrial revolution.
Under his leadership, Nvidia became the central supplier to every major AI lab. Its chips train the models at OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta, and its data-centre business grew into one of the largest revenue engines in technology.
That is why his departure rattles more than Nvidia’s own shareholders. If investors doubt that the company can maintain its pace without its founder, the entire AI trade — the shares, the spending plans, the valuations — comes under pressure.
The timing adds to the strain. AMD has launched powerful new server chips, Google is building its own AI accelerators, and export controls are reshaping who can buy Nvidia’s most advanced products.
Huang’s personal authority was, in many ways, the glue holding that position together. He negotiated directly with world leaders, set the company’s roadmap, and convinced customers to keep buying even as prices soared.
What Happens Next for Nvidia
The first big test comes on November 17, when Nvidia reports its third-quarter fiscal 2027 results. The numbers will show whether demand for AI chips is still outrunning supply, and whether customers are sticking with Nvidia through the turmoil.
The board’s search for a permanent chief executive could take weeks or months. Until then, Nvidia will be led by a finance chief rather than the founder who built it, at a moment when the company has never been more important — or more closely watched.
For now, the AI industry’s most familiar figure is gone. The company he built remains central to the world’s most important technology race. But for the first time in 33 years, someone else will decide where it goes next.
