Jensen Huang Resigns as Nvidia CEO, Erasing Roughly $2 Trillion in Market Value
Nvidia announced that founder Jensen Huang has resigned as president, CEO and director effective immediately, with CFO Colette Kress stepping in as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent successor. The company created its first chairman role, filled by longtime director Harvey C. Jones. Shares fell as much as 13% intraday, pushing market value below $4 trillion as brokerages cut ratings and price targets.
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宝玉 (@dotey) · 2026-11-12 15
Jensen Huang Resigns as NVIDIA CEO; CFO Colette Kress Takes Over on an Interim Basis; NVIDIA Appoints a Chairman for the First Time
NVIDIA announced before market open on the morning of November 12, U.S. Eastern Time, that founder Jensen Huang has resigned as President, CEO, and Director, effective immediately. CFO Colette Kress will also serve as Interim CEO, and the board has begun searching for a permanent successor, considering both internal and external candidates.
Jensen Huang founded NVIDIA in 1993 and served as CEO for 33 years. According to a filing NVIDIA submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the board accepted his resignation on Wednesday, November 11. That same afternoon, The New York Times reported on his second extramarital relationship, and The Wall Street Journal reported that the board was preparing to remove him.
The announcement did not state the reason for the resignation, nor did it include any statement from Jensen Huang himself. The board only said that Jensen Huang's contributions to NVIDIA were "profound" and thanked him for his "immeasurable contributions."
Colette Kress is 59 years old and joined NVIDIA in September 2013, serving as CFO throughout. Before that, she spent nearly 25 years in finance at Cisco and Microsoft. Investors know her well: at NVIDIA's quarterly earnings calls, she is the one who presents the financial figures. While serving as Interim CEO, she will continue to also serve as CFO.
Finding a permanent CEO will not be easy. During Jensen Huang's tenure, roughly 60 executives reported directly to him, and NVIDIA has never had a publicly disclosed succession plan.
NVIDIA has not had the position of Chairman in the past. This time, the board appointed Harvey C. Jones as its first Chairman. Jones is 73 years old and has been an NVIDIA director since 1993. He previously served as CEO and Executive Chairman of chip design software company Synopsys.
In the announcement, Jones said he expects the company's operations, commitments to customers, and product roadmap to "not be disrupted."
The third-quarter earnings report will be released as originally scheduled on Tuesday, November 17: the results will come out at around 4 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time, and the conference call will begin at 5 p.m., which is 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. Beijing Time on the 18th. This will be the first earnings report since Kress became Interim CEO.
According to Decrypt, Jensen Huang remains NVIDIA's largest shareholder, with a stake of about 3.6%.
NVIDIA closed at $173.73 on Wednesday. According to Yahoo Finance, it fell by about 13% at one point after the opening on Thursday, with its market capitalization dropping below $4 trillion and its ranking falling to third. Decrypt reported that shortly after the opening it traded at $160.28, down 7.7%, and fell as low as $148.80 during the session. Based on Yahoo Finance calculations, from the record closing price of $239.24 on October 6 to the pre-market low on Thursday, NVIDIA's market capitalization evaporated by about $2 trillion.
Brokerages are also adjusting. Oppenheimer downgraded the stock and withdrew its price target; Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives cut his price target from $300 to $225.
The board's independent investigation. On November 10, the board stated that independent directors had engaged Joon H. Kim, former Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct an investigation. The announcement did not say whether the investigation will continue after Jensen Huang's resignation.
Congress. Three Republican committee chairs in the House of Representatives demanded that Jensen Huang appear for a closed-door briefing on November 18. He has not responded, and the committee chairs have said a subpoena may be issued. According to The Wall Street Journal, Democratic Senators Warren and Coons have sent letters to Commerce Secretary Lutnick, Secretary of State Rubio, and other Trump administration officials, demanding that all records related to NVIDIA be preserved, including materials on NVIDIA's chip exports to China. Democrats will take control of the House in January next year.
In addition, Trump said on November 9 that the FBI was investigating the matter; on the same day, shareholders filed a class action lawsuit against NVIDIA and Jensen Huang in federal court.
Note: Alice Huang's intelligence identity comes from anonymous U.S. officials, and there is no public evidence; the Powell matter comes from anonymous former employees cited by The New York Times, and none of the parties involved have confirmed it. Neither NVIDIA's announcement nor the SEC filing linked the resignation to these two matters. Stock prices are based on data from Thursday morning U.S. Eastern Time.
↳ Quoting @nvidianewsroom (NVIDIA Newsroom): NVIDIA announces CEO transition. Read the release: https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-ceo-transition