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| Jensen Huang. Photograph: Nvidia. |
Jensen Huang has resigned as Nvidia’s president and chief executive, ending his leadership of the company he co-founded in 1993 as its board investigates reports that he was targeted by a Chinese intelligence operation.
Nvidia announced on Thursday, 12 November, that Huang’s departure took immediate effect and that he had also relinquished his board seat. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will lead the company temporarily while directors search for a permanent successor.
The company’s announcement said Kress would retain her responsibilities as executive vice president and chief financial officer during the transition. The search will include candidates from within Nvidia and outside the business.
The leadership change followed several days of pressure over Huang’s personal relationships and questions about their possible implications for a company central to the artificial intelligence industry.
Reporting from New York, Al Jazeera English’s Kristen Saloomey said Nvidia shares were approximately 11 per cent lower in pre-market trading during the broadcast. Nasdaq futures were down just over one per cent, reflecting wider weakness in technology stocks before regular trading began.
Nvidia also appointed Harvey C. Jones as its first board chairman. Jones said Kress’s experience across the company’s finances, operations and customer relationships would support continuity, and that directors expected existing business commitments and product development to proceed without interruption.
Kress said she would work with the leadership team to continue serving customers, partners, developers and shareholders. Thursday’s announcement did not publish findings from the investigation.
The board opened its inquiry on 8 November after reports alleged that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. Directors initially expressed confidence in his leadership while committing to examine the available information.
In that statement, the board said it had no reason to believe that Nvidia’s secrets or US national security had been compromised. It placed the investigation under a committee of independent directors supported by outside legal advisers.
Huang separately acknowledged his conduct in an email to employees, published by Nvidia on the same day.
“I was unfaithful to my wife.”
He apologised to his family and colleagues, accepted responsibility for the harm caused and pledged to assist the board’s review.
“I support the investigation and will cooperate fully.”
Reports identified the woman involved as Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based technology company Megaspeed, which was an Nvidia customer. Her surname is Huang, rather than Wang, as rendered in parts of the broadcast transcript.
The allegations concern whether she gathered information for China. They remain unproven, and China’s Foreign Ministry has rejected the espionage claims. The Associated Press has said it could not independently verify the reported relationships.
Megaspeed has said it takes US export controls seriously and is cooperating with authorities. It also said it engaged a US law firm to examine its chip inventory and export-control procedures.
The controversy widened on Wednesday when The New York Times reported allegations of a separate relationship between Huang and Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president overseeing healthcare activities and a direct report.
Yahoo Finance’s account attributed that allegation to the Times. Huang’s published admission of unfaithfulness and the subsequent allegations should be distinguished from any finding about espionage or the disclosure of company information.
On 10 November, Nvidia’s independent directors announced that former acting US attorney Joon H. Kim and his firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, would conduct the investigation. The company has not announced a conclusion to that process in its leadership-transition statement.
Kress assumes responsibility for the business after more than 13 years at Nvidia. According to her company biography, she joined in September 2013 following nearly 25 years in financial positions at technology companies.
Her previous appointments included three years as a senior vice president and chief financial officer within Cisco’s Business Technology and Operations Finance organisation. She also spent 13 years at Microsoft, including four as chief financial officer of its Server and Tools division, and previously worked at Texas Instruments.
Huang’s departure removes the executive who led Nvidia from its foundation through its expansion from graphics processors into AI infrastructure. Its graphics processing units, or GPUs, are widely used in the data centres supporting AI systems.
Al Jazeera placed the company’s value at approximately $4 trillion in its report. Saloomey linked the market reaction to Nvidia’s role as a supplier to other technology companies and its investments across the AI industry.
She also identified Huang’s relationship with US President Donald Trump and his advocacy for sales to China as issues attracting scrutiny following the allegations. Nvidia’s earlier statement that it had no reason to believe secrets were compromised remains distinct from the investigation’s eventual conclusions.
The company’s next scheduled financial announcement will proceed during the leadership transition. Nvidia said it would release its third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday, 17 November, followed by its earnings conference call.