Nvidia’s Huang Quits; Kress in Charge as Successor Hunt Begins
Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia chief executive on Thursday. Finance chief Colette Kress is running the company while analysts weigh who could replace him, from internal engineers to Tim Cook and Arm's Rene Haas. Shares fell about 9% after hours on Wednesday.
Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive on Thursday, November 12, 2026, leaving the AI chipmaker to find someone to replace Jensen Huang at the head of one of the world's most valuable companies. Chief financial officer Colette Kress is in charge for now.
Huang stepped down over reports of extramarital affairs, one of them with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy. Nvidia has not named a permanent successor.
Who analysts are naming
Kress has spent more than 30 years in the industry, with senior roles at Cisco and Microsoft. She has "fronted every earnings call" alongside Huang, said Josh Gilbert, an analyst at investment firm eToro. He called her a "familiar and trusted voice for the market at a time when it badly needs one."
Gilbert said a permanent job could be different. Nvidia is known for its technology edge and might want an engineer in the chair.
Two engineers have come up. Chris Malachowsky co-founded Nvidia with Huang and Curtis Priem and is the only executive of similar seniority. Ian Buck runs the company's high-performance computing business and helped popularize graphics processors beyond gaming.
Charu Chanana, an investment strategist at Saxo, said Buck "could protect Nvidia's technological edge," but his ability to handle commercial relationships and geopolitical pressure "would face scrutiny."
Outside options
Jun Bei Liu, founder and lead portfolio manager at Ten Cap, expects Nvidia to favor an internal appointment first. It could look externally later for a permanent pick.
Liu floated Tim Cook, Apple's former chief executive and now its chair, for his experience with global supply chains. She doubted he would leave the iPhone maker. Liu and Chanana both suggested Rene Haas, chief executive of UK chip designer Arm Holdings, though Chanana said Nvidia's business model differs considerably from Arm's.
Huang's children hold executive roles at Nvidia but are relatively young and inexperienced, according to the same BBC analysis.
Board search and market reaction
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday evening that the board had hired an outside firm to find replacements. Its sources said some directors favored Kress as interim chief, and that Apple hardware chief Johny Srouji was reportedly under consideration.
Nvidia shares closed that session at $173.73, then traded at $158.76 by 7:59 p.m. ET. That is below the 52-week low of $164.27. Several major investment firms have also downgraded their forecasts for the company.
The board had opened an investigation into reports that Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort. On November 10, independent directors retained former acting US Attorney Joon H. Kim and his firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, to run it. The board said it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised.
"The challenge is finding someone who can combine Jensen's technical understanding, strategic vision and relationships across the global technology industry," Liu said.
