Nvidia says Jensen Huang has left as CEO; Colette Kress takes interim role

Huang steps down after 33 years

Nvidia announced the immediate departure of Jensen Huang from his roles as chief executive officer, president and member of the board of directors. The decision ends 33 years at the head of the U.S. semiconductor company, which Huang co-founded in 1993 and led as it became the world's largest supplier of chips for artificial intelligence.

The company said Colette Kress, its chief financial officer since 2013, takes over as interim chief executive. She will keep her financial responsibilities during the transition. Harvey C. Jones, a long-serving director, becomes chair of the board. Nvidia has begun a recruitment process for a permanent CEO and is considering both internal and external candidates.

What the prediction market showed before the news

Speculation about the succession had been building on prediction markets. On Kalshi, users bet on who would be Nvidia's next CEO. According to Benzinga, Ian Buck, who heads hyperscale and high-performance computing, led with 42% at the time of its reading, and Kress was second at 27%.

Tim Cook, Apple's former chief executive, appeared among the candidates with 10% on 11 November, after briefly reaching about 91% roughly 24 hours earlier. Benzinga said it could not verify the origin of the social media speculation, and no official information suggested Nvidia had approached Cook. Cook has been executive chairman of Apple's board since September, after handing the CEO role to John Ternus on 1 September 2026.

On CNBC, Daniel Newman, CEO of Futurum Group, said Nvidia would need its own Tim Cook to succeed Huang, referring to a leader able to run a large technology company rather than confirming any candidacy. Reuters also mentioned Arm CEO Rene Haas, a former Nvidia executive, among outside profiles considered by some analysts.

An inquiry and a board meeting came first

The succession talk followed disclosures about Huang. On 8 November, Nvidia said it had opened an independent inquiry after reports suggesting a possible foreign intelligence operation targeting its chief executive. The board said at the time that it retained confidence in Huang.

Three days later, Reuters reported that directors were meeting to examine his future after further revelations about his private life. No official replacement decision had been announced before the departure.

Market reaction and the next date

Investors had already reacted. On Wednesday 11 November, Nvidia shares closed at $173.73, up 2.92% in regular trading, then lost 8.61% after the close, according to Benzinga. In October the company had approached a $6,000 billion market capitalization on demand for data-center chips.

Nvidia is due to publish results for the third quarter of its fiscal 2027 on 17 November. Kress was scheduled to present the main figures ahead of a call with analysts. The company has not said when it expects to name a permanent CEO.