Jensen Huang has resigned as NVIDIA's president and chief executive and left its board, effective immediately, the company announced on 12 November 2026. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress takes charge as interim CEO while retaining her finance responsibilities.
Kress is the immediate replacement, not a named permanent successor. The board is beginning a search that will consider candidates from inside and outside the company, leaving the longer-term leadership decision open while assigning responsibility for running the business now.
Kress Takes Charge While Remaining CFO
Kress will serve as interim chief executive until a permanent successor is named. She also remains executive vice-president and CFO, combining the temporary appointment with the finance role she has held since joining NVIDIA in September 2013.
Her background gives her experience of the business through its finance organisation, which she has led throughout her tenure. Before NVIDIA, she spent nearly 25 years in technology-sector finance, including positions at Cisco and Microsoft.
Her earlier experience includes 13 years at Microsoft, where she held finance positions including chief financial officer of its Server and Tools division, according to a Business Insider profile.
Board chair Harvey Jones cites her understanding of the company's customers, operations and financial position in explaining the appointment. That endorsement places familiarity with the business at the centre of the board's stated rationale for choosing its interim leader.
'The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team', Jones says in the announcement. The company identifies that existing team as support for Kress as she assumes executive responsibility alongside her continuing financial duties.
The Board Will Search Internally and Externally
The permanent search remains a separate process. The announcement gives no shortlist or selection deadline, and does not identify Kress as a candidate for the permanent position. Her interim appointment therefore answers who leads immediately without settling who ultimately receives the job.
Harvey C. Jones becomes the company's first board chair. His background includes serving as chief executive and executive chairman of Synopsys, alongside experience as a technology executive, entrepreneur and venture investor.
The two appointments divide the announced responsibilities: Kress takes executive leadership, while Jones chairs the board that is initiating the search. The release does not name a separate search committee or give Jones sole responsibility for selecting the next CEO.
The company gives no reason for Huang's resignation in its announcement. It thanks him for his contributions, but does not describe a continuing executive or board role following his departure from the three positions.
Financial Results Remain Scheduled for 17 November
The board says it expects NVIDIA's operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption. This is its stated expectation for the transition, rather than evidence that the leadership change has already passed without operational effects.
Kress says her focus remains on customers, partners, developers and shareholders, and on continuing the company's work in accelerated computing and AI. Her statement does not set out a replacement strategy or announce changes to existing products.
NVIDIA's third-quarter fiscal 2027 results remain scheduled for 17 November, with publication expected at approximately 1:20 p.m. PT and an earnings call at 2 p.m. PT. The permanent leadership search remains open, with no appointment date announced.
