Jensen Huang resigns as Nvidia CEO; Colette Kress named interim chief

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Jensen Huang is no longer Nvidia’s CEO. On Thursday, 12 November 2026, the company said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the board had accepted his resignation as CEO and as a member of the board, effective immediately. CFO Colette Kress takes over as interim CEO. The shares fell more than 13% at the open and then recovered part of the loss. Below: what Nvidia has confirmed, and what the media are reporting.

Confirmed, reported, unknown

Status as of 12 November 2026, 12:15 pm New York time (18:15 CET).

• Confirmed by Nvidia (Form 8-K): Huang resigned as President, CEO and board member. The company gave no reason.
• Interim CEO: Colette Kress, CFO since 2013. She keeps the CFO role until a permanent CEO is named.
• New role: Harvey C. Jones, a director since 1993, becomes the first Chair of the Board in Nvidia’s history.
• Successor: the board is searching for a permanent CEO among internal and external candidates.
• Stock: opened at $150.99 (-13.1%), low $148.80 (-14.3%), $164.47 (-5.3%) at 12:12 pm New York time. The SOX chip index was roughly flat at that point.

What exactly Nvidia said

The key document is a Form 8-K, the report US-listed companies file after material events. Nvidia dates the event to 11 November; the report was signed on 12 November by Colette Kress as interim CEO, executive vice president and CFO. The board “accepted the resignation” of Huang from three roles at once: President, CEO and director. The filing gives no reason and mentions no separation agreement or severance.

Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and ran it for 33 years. Kress, 59, joined Nvidia in September 2013 after almost 25 years in finance, including at Cisco and Microsoft. Harvey C. Jones, 73, has sat on the board since 1993 and is a former CEO and executive chairman of Synopsys. Until now Nvidia had no board chair at all, a gap governance critics pointed out only days ago, as I discussed in Who comes after Huang? Nvidia depends on one man, and that is a bigger problem than the affair.

One distinction matters: Nvidia did not say Huang was fired. Formally, it is a resignation accepted by the board. On Wednesday The Wall Street Journal reported that the board was preparing to remove him, and Reuters reported that it met that evening without a decision. A day later, this was the outcome.

Why now

The company does not explain, so all we can describe is what happened in the past two weeks. On 29 October The New York Times reported that US intelligence considers Alice Huang, an executive at the Singapore company Megaspeed and no relation to Jensen Huang, a source for Chinese intelligence, and that she had a close relationship with Nvidia’s CEO. On 8 November Huang admitted in a memo to staff that he had been unfaithful to his wife, and the board opened an independent investigation. On Wednesday the NYT, citing former employees, reported a second relationship, with an Nvidia vice president who reported directly to Huang. Nvidia did not comment, and Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

Nobody has been charged. China denies that Alice Huang worked for its intelligence services. In its 8 November statement the board said it had “no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised.” According to CNBC, Huang denied any such compromise. The independent investigation, run by independent directors with the law firm Wachtell Lipton, formally continues.

The stock: down 14% at the open, then a rebound

I checked 5-minute data from Yahoo Finance. Nvidia closed Wednesday at $173.73. When trading opened in New York on Thursday, the first trade was at $150.99, 13.1% lower. In the first minutes the stock fell to $148.80, 14.3% below Wednesday’s close. According to CNBC the company’s market value dropped below $4 trillion. Then buyers returned: at 12:12 pm New York time Nvidia traded at $164.47, down 5.3% on the day.

The comparison with the sector says the most. The SOX semiconductor index also opened weak (-3.7%) but was back near zero within two hours, while AMD and Broadcom were each up more than 5%. The market was not selling chips, it was selling Nvidia. It has been the same story since 9 November: the chip index rebounds, Nvidia does not. I break down how much of the fall from the October record is the Huang affair and how much is the sector in Nvidia down 31%: how much is the Huang affair and how much is the market?.

Analysts are cutting targets. According to CNBC, Stifel lowered its price target from $315 to $205 while keeping a buy rating, and KeyBanc’s John Vinh wrote of “a material increase” in risk after the CEO’s departure. These are analysts’ opinions, not advice: this article does not tell anyone what to do with the stock.

Washington: testimony and a Trump post

The resignation does not end the matter in Congress. Republican Brian Mast, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said according to CNBC that Huang has agreed to testify before Thanksgiving, which falls on 26 November. The date is still being negotiated; the hearing is likely to be under oath and involve several committees. Mast said he would issue a subpoena if needed. Senator Elizabeth Warren said the resignation “does not absolve him,” and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries called for a classified briefing.

President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that there is “only one man” to take Huang’s place: Tim Cook of Apple, adding “A Legend replaces a Legend!” One detail matters: since 1 September Cook is no longer Apple’s CEO but executive chairman of its board. By the time of publication I found no response from Nvidia or Cook. Nvidia’s board, not the White House, chooses the CEO.

What comes next

• Tuesday, 17 November, around 1:20 pm Pacific time: Nvidia reports results for the third quarter of fiscal 2027, with the earnings call at 2 pm Pacific. The company confirmed the date is unchanged. These are the first results under interim CEO Colette Kress. In August Nvidia guided to $108 billion in revenue for the quarter.
• Before 26 November: Huang’s testimony in Congress, if it goes ahead as announced. No exact date yet.
• No date: the search for a permanent CEO. Bloomberg reported earlier that the board was working with an outside firm on a list of candidates. Nvidia has named no one, and the lists circulating in the media are speculation.
• No date: the outcome of the board’s independent investigation and any further steps by US authorities.

FAQ

Has Jensen Huang been charged?

No. As of 12 November none of the sources I checked report charges against Jensen Huang or Alice Huang. The assessment that she worked with Chinese intelligence comes from US officials as described by The New York Times. China rejects it.

Does Huang keep any role at Nvidia?

According to the 8-K he leaves as President, CEO and director. The filing mentions no other role, advisory or otherwise.

Who runs Nvidia now?

Colette Kress as interim CEO, with Harvey C. Jones chairing the board. There is no permanent CEO yet.

This is not investment advice. I report data and sources; decisions about the stock are up to the reader.

Kinetyra