Jensen Huang steps down as NVIDIA CEO, Colette Kress takes over as interim chief
Jensen Huang has stepped down as NVIDIA CEO, effective immediately, with Colette Kress taking over interim leadership while the board of directors searches for a successor.
- Jensen Huang has stepped down as NVIDIA president, CEO, and board member, effective immediately.
- Colette Kress, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Vice President, will serve as interim CEO.
- The board is searching for a permanent successor, and Huang had never established a succession plan.
- NVIDIA is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings next Tuesday.
Table of Contents
A surprise transition at NVIDIA
NVIDIA's board of directors announced Thursday morning that Jensen Huang has stepped down as president, CEO, and member of the board. The decision is effective immediately. Huang co-founded the company and has served as CEO for 33 years.
This marks a major shakeup for one of the world's most valuable companies, which designs the foundational chips powering the AI boom. Huang was so deeply tied to NVIDIA that the company had never developed a formal succession plan. As a result, few could have anticipated this move just a week ago.
While searching for a permanent replacement, NVIDIA also appointed longtime board member Harvey C. Jones as the company's first independent board chair.
Who is Colette Kress
Colette Kress, NVIDIA's CFO and Executive Vice President, will take on the role of interim CEO. The company she now leads is valued at approximately 3.8 trillion USD. According to NVIDIA's website, she has been with the company since September 2013.
Before that, she spent three years as SVP and CFO of Cisco's Business Technology Operations Finance group. She also spent 13 years at Microsoft, including four years as CFO of the Server and Tools division. She holds a degree in finance from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.
The 59-year-old executive lives in California and maintains virtually no social media presence. Even so, as CFO, she regularly appears on NVIDIA earnings calls and is a familiar face to Wall Street analysts. According to Forbes' list of America's Richest Self-Made Women, her net worth is estimated at around 1.2 billion USD. The Forbes profile notes that she joined NVIDIA in part because her two sons encouraged her, as the company was best known for gaming at the time.
Message from the interim CEO
In a statement, Kress emphasized that NVIDIA's strength has always come from its people. She pledged to work alongside the leadership team to build on the foundation Huang created over 33 years. The company will continue pushing forward in accelerated computing and AI.
She also affirmed that the focus remains on serving customers, partners, developers, and shareholders. NVIDIA is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on Tuesday, where investors may hear more about her near-term plans.
For a company where the founder's name is practically synonymous with the brand, the absence of a succession plan is a critical detail to watch. Tapping a CFO as interim CEO signals that the immediate priority is maintaining financial stability and investor confidence. The upcoming earnings call will be Wall Street's first opportunity to evaluate the direction of the new leadership team.
Source: TechCrunch
Reviewed by: Hero Association
