Nvidia Chief Jensen Huang Resigns After Reports of Affairs, Including One With Suspected Chinese Spy
Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang has resigned as president, chief executive and a member of the board, ending a 33-year run at the head of the company whose chips power much of the global artificial intelligence boom.
Nvidia announced the departure on Thursday, 12 November. In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said its board had accepted Huang’s resignation on 11 November, effective immediately. Chief financial officer Colette Kress, who has worked at Nvidia since 2013, will serve as interim chief executive while the board searches for a permanent successor. The board also named Harvey C. Jones, a director and former Synopsys chief executive, as its first-ever chair.
A week of damaging reports
Nvidia gave no reason for Huang’s resignation in its statement, but the announcement capped a turbulent week for the chipmaker.
On Sunday, 8 November, Huang admitted he had been unfaithful to his wife, and Nvidia’s board opened an independent investigation into reports that he had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. The New York Times and other outlets had reported that Huang had a relationship with a Chinese woman whom US intelligence agencies believe was recruited by Beijing as a spy.
Then, on 11 November, the Times reported that Huang had also had an extramarital relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare and an executive who reported directly to him. Reuters reported that Huang had hired the law firm Paul Weiss. Nvidia has not commented beyond its resignation statement, and the company has not said whether its investigation is continuing.
Huang, 63, founded Nvidia in 1993 and was its only chief executive. He built the company from a maker of graphics chips for video games into the world’s most valuable semiconductor business, and one of the most closely watched companies in the world. He remains Nvidia’s fourth-largest shareholder, with a 3.61% stake, according to Reuters.
Shares slide as succession questions mount
Investors reacted sharply to the news. Nvidia shares fell as much as 14% during Thursday’s session before recovering some of the losses, as traders weighed what the company looks like without the leader who shaped its strategy, its famously flat management structure and its close ties to Washington.
The timing adds to the uncertainty. Nvidia reports third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday, 17 November, its first earnings under Kress, and she is due to host an employee meeting on 18 November. The board said it would consider both internal and external candidates for the permanent role, and set no deadline for the search.
The resignation also lands as Nvidia faces continuing questions in Washington about its business in China. The company has been at the centre of a debate over whether its advanced chips reached China through intermediaries, and the Trump administration has been pressing to tighten export controls. The question of how Nvidia’s chips are sold, and to whom, is now part of the succession story as well as a policy fight.
What happens next
Kress is a known quantity on Wall Street, having joined Nvidia in 2013 and appeared alongside Huang on every earnings call since. But analysts say the interim appointment leaves the biggest question open: who can run a company whose value rests so heavily on one founder’s technical vision and personal relationships with customers, suppliers and governments.
Nvidia has already begun sounding out candidates. The company has approached Rene Haas, chief executive of the British chip designer Arm, about succeeding Huang, in a sign that the board is looking beyond its own ranks.
For now, the chipmaker that sits at the centre of the AI boom must prove it can keep its momentum without the man who built it.
