Nvidia’s Jensen Huang has resigned from the company, following accusations of the CEO having an affair with a suspected Chinese spy, and subsequent details of a second alleged affair emerging.
The Board of Directors announced that the resignation is effective immediately, and that Colette Kress, who is currently Chief Financial Officer of Nvidia, will be the interim CEO.
In a press statement, Nvidia said: “Kress will continue to serve as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer while serving as Interim Chief Executive Officer until a permanent successor has been named.”
The board also said that a search for a new permanent CEO has begun, and that the successor to Huang could be either an internal appointment, or an external candidate could get the job.
Because of the importance of both Huang and Nvidia in the tech industry, there could be a lot of fallout from this, so we'll be keeping this story updated live as more information and and reaction to this news emerges.
Won't somebody think of the gamers?
There's been a lot of focus on the AI impact of Huang's departure, but what will it mean for gaming fans who've felt let down by Nvidia's focus on other areas more recently? It may not be good news, as our report Darren Allen explains.
Opinions from a noted analyst
Ming-Chi Kuo is a famous tech analyst, with great connections inside the supply side of the industry. He's laid out his opinion on what the initial takeaway should be from the market — though it sounds like Elizabeth Warren may disagree on his first point, because she certainly doesn't think Huang cutting ties with Nvidia should mean Nvidia remaining executives can breathe easy now…
Key takeaways on Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s resignation: 1. Near term, the bad news is priced in: For the stock market, this could be a one-time clearing event. Huang has now fully cut ties with Nvidia, so Congress summoning him and any follow-up investigations should have less impact on Nvidia’s stock from here. As for how Huang’s next moves might affect Nvidia, it’s too early to call before the investigation results are out. 2. Google’s TPU is likely the biggest beneficiary: With Nvidia facing succession uncertainty, Google’s TPU has a chance to win more trust from customers and the supply chain. Its key partners, MediaTek and Broadcom, could be the market’s near-term focus. 3. Succession impact shows up in 2028 at the earliest: CFO Colette Kress is now interim CEO. The formal CEO transition and the organizational changes that come with it will likely start affecting Nvidia’s product development and competitiveness in 2028 at the earliest. 4. Capacity pre-booking and spec upgrades are the key focus for supply chain checks: Huang’s product strategy pushed the supply chain hard in two ways: capacity pre-booking and spec upgrades. It’s critical to watch for any changes in capacity expansion and new tech development across the supply chain. These are among the core reasons Nvidia’s supply chain trades at high P/E multiples. 5. China demand and export controls: The share of Nvidia’s AI chip revenue that ultimately ends up with Chinese buyers may be higher than what the company has officially stated. That’s why some investors worry Nvidia’s revenue will drop sharply once the US government tightens export controls. But China’s end demand won’t disappear because of export controls. Even under tighter rules, as long as overseas resale channels exist, Chinese buyers may still pay the premium, even at several times the price, and get Nvidia chips/racks through indirect routes.November 12, 2026
Resigning may not be the end of the battle for Huang
US Senator Elizabeth Warren has laid out a clear message that she wants to investigate further what kind of information may have been compromised from Jensen Huang's relationships. It may not be a comfortable few months for Huang on many fronts…
Jensen Huang’s decision to resign from NVIDIA does not absolve him, other executives, or the company as a whole of responsibility for putting our national security at risk or for any potential violations of our laws. They still owe Congress answers.
— @warren.senate.gov (@warren.senate.gov.bsky.social) 2026-11-12T16:19:51.546Z
US President Donald Trump has just weighed in with his suggestion for Nvidia CEO:
What is going on with the GPU side of Nvidia? We have just reported that the Nvidia RTX 5080 Super GPU is rumored to have been canned, presumably due to high memory costs. This is a big blow to anyone hoping Nvidia would release new, sensibly priced, gaming GPUs any time soon.
I'm not sure if those tweets are embedding properly, but the last one was from Elon Musk being rather gleeful at the idea that he could hire Jensen Huang.
Well, it seems like Jensen Huang won't have much of a problem finding a new job after this.
@zerohedge That would be an honorNovember 12, 2026
Here is Colette Kress' apparent message to staff today:
Colette Kress, Nvidia’s new interim CEO, internal message to staff today: https://t.co/CT7IXQDmXhNovember 12, 2026
Colette Kress will continue to serve as chief financial officer while also being interim CEO. There's a possibility she will be chosen as a full-time replacement, depending on how she copes with the next few challenging weeks.
Many PC gamers, including myself, will be hoping that whoever the new CEO of Nvidia is, they'll continue to make gaming GPUs. Whilst Nvidia made its name with graphics cards, the incredible success of its AI hardware has meant that the gaming division sometimes felt like an afterthought. There's a fear that any new CEO could double down on AI and further neglect Nvidia's gaming roots.
As for who comes next, because Huang was so integral to Nvidia, there hasn't been any real speculation until now who would take over from him.
As the company explains in its statement:
"Colette Kress, current Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of NVIDIA, has agreed to serve as Interim Chief Executive Officer. Kress will continue to serve as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer while serving as Interim Chief Executive Officer until a permanent successor has been named. The Board is initiating a search for a permanent Chief Executive Officer and will consider internal and external candidates."
Huang has been married to his wife Lori since 1985, so his admission of an affair was a shock, so when there were reports that he had been having a second extra marital affair, this time with someone working at Nvidia, it quickly became apparent that Huang's position was no longer tenable.
Even so, the suddenness of his removal has also been shocking. Nvidia's board of directors issued a statement saying: “Jensen’s contributions to Nvidia are profound. Nvidia is one of the most consequential technology companies in the world. The board and the company thank Jensen for his immeasurable contributions to the company and the industry."
US intelligence has been watching Alice Huang, and accused her of being a Chinese intelligence asset. The information behind this accusation is confidential, but it has added an extra layer of drama and betrayal to this whole saga.
After this disclosure, Nvidia's valuation plummeted by $430bn, and the company appointed an external law firm, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct a “thorough and independent” investigation.
Still, Jensen Huang is such an important and integral part of Nvidia and its success that it was still difficult to imagine him not being CEO.
This whole debacle started when Huang admitted that he had formed a "close relationship" with Alice Huang, who was once an executive of Megaspeed, a Singaporean company that is a customer of Nvidia.
In a message to his then-employees, Jensen Huang wrote that "I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children."
But this was just the start.
Outside of Apple's CEOs and AI leaders, Jensen Huang was arguably the most recognisable tech CEO. In his trademark black leather jacket, he successfully made Nvidia the dominant player in consumer gaming graphics cards, before pivoting to AI chip powerhouse.
This made Nvidia one of the most successful companies in the world, so the importance of this dramatic fall from grace really can't be understated.
For some background about what's led to this, check out our article by Lance Ulanoff on why this is more than just a tech soap opera.