Harvey Jones Becomes Nvidia’s First-Ever Chair as Huang Resigns
Nvidia named Harvey C. Jones its first-ever board chair on November 12, 2026, as Jensen Huang resigned as CEO. Jones, a director since 1993, takes the role while CFO Colette Kress serves as interim chief and the board searches for a permanent successor.
Nvidia named Harvey C. Jones its first-ever board chair on Thursday, November 12, 2026, in the same announcement that Jensen Huang resigned as president, CEO and board member, effective immediately. Jones has been a director since 1993, the year the chipmaker was founded.
Chief financial officer Colette Kress is interim CEO. The board, now chaired by Jones, will search inside and outside the company for a permanent replacement.
Who Jones is
Jones has spent more than 30 years as an entrepreneur, technology executive and venture investor, according to his Nvidia biography. He co-founded Daisy Systems, a computer-aided engineering company, in 1981 and ran it until 1987.
He then led Synopsys, whose software is used to design chips, first as CEO for seven years and then as executive chairman. In 1997 he co-founded Tensilica, which licensed processor designs. He chaired it until Cadence Design Systems bought it in 2013.
Since 2004 he has run Square Wave Ventures, a private investment firm. At Nvidia he sits on the audit committee and on the nominating and corporate governance committee, which oversees board membership and, typically, leadership succession.
A handoff he has seen before
At Synopsys, the CEO job passed in 1994 to co-founder Aart de Geus while Jones stayed on as executive chairman. De Geus went on to run the company for about 30 years. At Nvidia the handoff runs the other way, because a founder is leaving.
"Colette has helped lead NVIDIA through a period of extraordinary growth and has a deep understanding of our business, customers, operations and financial position," Jones said in the announcement.
Why Huang left
Huang resigned after reports of his affairs with a suspected Chinese spy and with a company executive. The relationship with the alleged spy, a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, triggered investigations by the FBI, the US Congress and Nvidia itself. The company also faces a shareholder class-action lawsuit.
Nvidia's board met Wednesday night to discuss ousting him. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast told reporters Thursday that Huang has agreed to testify before Congress.
Market reaction
Nvidia's market value fell below $4 trillion for the first time since July 2025 after the announcement. The stock opened Thursday at $151.01 and dropped as low as $148.80. By 10:46 AM ET it traded at $164.56, down 5.3% from Wednesday's close.
Shares have tumbled since the scandal broke, leaving Nvidia at its lowest multiple of expected earnings in 14 years. That ratio compares the share price with analysts' profit forecasts.
Aleksandar Tomic, associate dean for strategy, innovation, and technology at Boston College, called the resignation a "speed bump" for the company. "Nvidia is a strong company with a strong product, and this is a sudden event, not a product of corporate struggle," he said.
Nvidia is set to report quarterly earnings on Tuesday.
