According to The Wall Street Journal, Jensen Huang once made a pointed remark about Colette Kress, who just became NVIDIA's interim CEO after his resignation.
- Citing an anonymous source, The Wall Street Journal reports that Jensen Huang once compared Colette Kress to a "deer in the headlights" during an internal meeting.
- The meeting covered plans to backstop billions of dollars for data center operators that couldn't yet afford to buy chips upfront.
- Kress had questioned NVIDIA's credit deals and scaled back its commitment to OpenAI's data center project in Ohio.
- NVIDIA is searching for a permanent CEO to replace Huang, who held the role for more than 33 years.
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A pointed remark in a finance meeting
According to The Wall Street Journal, Jensen Huang described Colette Kress as "a deer in the headlights" during a presentation in early summer. Kress is NVIDIA's chief financial officer (CFO) and is now serving as interim CEO after Huang stepped down on Thursday. The information comes from an anonymous source, and NVIDIA has not confirmed it in the original report.
Huang made the comment in a meeting with NVIDIA's finance team. The discussion centered on a plan to provide billions of dollars in backstops for data center operators that couldn't afford to pay for chips upfront. The source said he also remarked that Kress was not someone who helped him shape strategy or make decisions.
The CFO's questions about credit deals
Kress has been with NVIDIA for more than 13 years. Before that, she was a senior vice president (SVP) and CFO of Business Technology Operations Finance at Cisco. The report says she questioned NVIDIA's structured credit arrangements, including a deal involving Huang's son-in-law, Nico Caprez.
According to the source, she wanted to know how to determine which deals were truly worthwhile, how to price the backstops, and how to measure the returns. Earlier this year, she also scaled back NVIDIA's commitment to OpenAI's large-scale data center project in Ohio. NVIDIA had negotiated to provide a $250 billion credit line to OpenAI but ultimately committed only $105 billion.
A leadership transition at NVIDIA
Huang stepped down on Thursday after more than 33 years as CEO. NVIDIA is now searching for a permanent successor. In the meantime, Kress is running the company.
Even though it is only an account from an anonymous source, the story shows that NVIDIA faces a sensitive governance problem: extending credit and backstops to keep demand for AI chips from stalling. Kress's questions about how to price backstops and measure returns are ones any investor would ask. The permanent successor will need to answer them as AI infrastructure keeps expanding.
Source: TechCrunch
Reviewed by: Hero Association
