Jensen Huang Resigns as NVIDIA CEO: 33-Year Tenure Ends, CFO Takes Over Temporarily

NVIDIA issued a press release on November 12: Jensen Huang has resigned as president, CEO, and director, effective immediately. CFO Colette Kress has been appointed interim CEO while continuing as CFO until a permanent successor is named.

This news was amplified when Robert Scoble reposted NVIDIA Newsroom's tweet; the original press release is at NVIDIA Newsroom.

The board's move is more than a CEO change. Harvey C. Jones was appointed as the board's first chair. He has been an entrepreneur, technology executive, and venture capitalist, and also served as CEO and executive chair of Synopsys. Kress joined NVIDIA as CFO in September 2013, after nearly 25 years in finance at companies including Cisco and Microsoft.

The press release did not explain the reason for Huang's resignation. The wording focused on continuity: the board has launched a search for a permanent CEO and will consider internal and external candidates; Kress will continue to oversee finance while also running the company; operations, customer commitments, and product roadmap expectations will not be interrupted.

The financial calendar is unchanged as well. NVIDIA still plans to report third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on November 17, at approximately 1:20 p.m. Pacific Time, with the conference call at 2 p.m.

The outside world has often tied NVIDIA and Jensen Huang together. This short-term arrangement looks more like a stability play: the CFO steps in, the chair role is established for the first time, and a permanent CEO will be sought separately. The governance structure has already begun to change; next, watch whom the board chooses to succeed a 33-year tenure.

Source: NVIDIA Newsroom; Robert Scoble tweet.