Nvidia founder Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive officer on Thursday, 12 November, with immediate effect. The company’s board of directors confirmed his departure from both the executive role and the board at a moment of mounting media pressure and financial market instability.

Colette Kress, Nvidia’s executive vice-president and chief financial officer, will serve as interim CEO until a permanent successor is named. Kress, who joined Nvidia in September 2013, will continue to fulfil her duties as CFO throughout the transition period.

“Nvidia’s strength has always been in its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to continuing the extraordinary foundation that Jensen built over the past 33 years,” Kress said.

Before joining Nvidia, Kress held senior positions at other major technology companies, including Cisco and Microsoft, accumulating broad experience in financial management and corporate operations.

The board confirmed it has already launched a search process for a new chief executive, considering both internal and external candidates. The decision comes at a particularly sensitive moment for the semiconductor manufacturer, whose strategic position in artificial intelligence development has placed it among the most influential companies in the global technology sector.

In a statement, the board highlighted Huang’s role in building and expanding Nvidia. “Jensen’s contributions to Nvidia are profound. It is one of the most impactful technology companies in the world. The board and the company thank Jensen for his invaluable contributions to the institution and to the industry,” the statement read.

Harvey C. Jones, former chief executive and chairman of Synopsys, was appointed as Nvidia’s first independent board chairman.

Nvidia Shares Retreat After Revelations

Huang’s departure triggered an immediate reaction in financial markets, compounding pressure that had already been building on Nvidia’s stock in preceding sessions.

During Thursday’s session, shares in the company — listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker NVDA — fell as much as 14% at the open, touching an intraday low of $148.80. The stock subsequently recovered part of those losses, closing the session at $166.19, a decline of 4.34% from the previous close of $173.73.

The sell-off followed losses of 9.6% across Monday and Tuesday’s sessions, after the first reports emerged alleging that Huang had conducted an extramarital affair with a Chinese businesswoman suspected by US intelligence sources of working on behalf of Beijing. The allegations raised concerns over potential conflicts of interest and the possible exposure of sensitive corporate information.

“Nvidia’s strength has always been in its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to continuing the extraordinary foundation that Jensen built over the past 33 years” — Colette Kress

According to CBS News, Nvidia lost nearly $500 billion in market capitalisation from the previous week’s close, a movement reflecting growing investor concern over the company’s leadership crisis.

The volatility recorded on Thursday underscores the market’s sensitivity to news affecting the management of one of the central companies driving growth in the artificial intelligence sector. Nvidia, whose stock market valuation stands at around $4 trillion, has played a pivotal role in the performance of US equity markets, particularly the Nasdaq and the S&P 500.

Huang’s departure therefore represents more than a change in corporate leadership. He became one of the most iconic figures of the AI expansion era, having guided Nvidia from a graphics card manufacturer into a strategic supplier of processors used in data centres, generative AI systems and high-performance computing infrastructure.

Uncertainty surrounding the succession process and the continuity of the company’s business strategy contributed to intensifying the investor reaction. Nvidia closed Thursday’s session down 4.34%, after recovering part of its initial decline.

The Controversies That Led to Jensen Huang’s Exit

Huang found himself at the centre of two separate controversies involving alleged extramarital relationships, which precipitated the leadership crisis at the technology company.

The first allegation, reported on Sunday, 8 November, involved a Chinese businesswoman who, according to information attributed to US intelligence sources, is suspected of working for Beijing. The claims raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest and the exposure of strategically sensitive company information.

On Wednesday, 11 November, a second alleged extramarital relationship was reported — this time with a subordinate at Nvidia — a situation that may contravene the company’s internal policies governing relationships between managers and employees.

In light of the disclosures, The Wall Street Journal reported that the board was preparing to remove Huang from the company’s leadership. The report intensified pressure on the executive and contributed to the instability in Nvidia’s share price.

The resignation, announced the following day, confirms the scale of the crisis surrounding the company’s founder, even as the board did not publicly cite the allegations as the formal grounds for the decision.