Nvidia names CFO Colette Kress interim CEO as Huang steps down

NVIDIA named chief financial officer Colette Kress interim CEO on Thursday after Jensen Huang stepped down amid reports of extramarital affairs and a possible Chinese spy link.

The leadership shock hits the company at the center of the AI boom, with shares already down more than 30% from their October peak and Washington, the FBI and the board all circling. Kress, a 59-year-old finance lifer, must now calm markets, customers and regulators while the board hunts for a permanent successor.

After leading NVIDIA for three decades since co-founding it, Huang left the company on Thursday. Kress has been appointed to the role temporarily as NVIDIA seeks a permanent replacement.

Huang's departure came after accounts emerged of two affairs outside his marriage, one with an NVIDIA executive who reported to him and another with a woman accused of being a Chinese spy.

Huang apologised for being unfaithful, and NVIDIA is investigating whether he was targeted by foreign intelligence.

NVIDIA shares dropped 14% on Thursday, reaching their lowest level in nearly 16 months after the company announced Huang's departure, then recovered some ground to end the day down 4.3%. Since their October high, the shares have fallen more than 30%.

Kress became NVIDIA's executive vice president and chief financial officer in September 2013, and has continued in the CFO role. Her earlier employers included Texas Instruments, Microsoft and Cisco.

At Texas Instruments, she spent eight years in finance roles, then joined Microsoft for a 1997 to 2010 stint, rising to CFO of its server and Tools division. She moved to Cisco in 2010, becoming senior vice president and chief financial officer while leading its Business Technology and Operations Finance organisation. Kress earned a finance bachelor's degree at the University of Arizona and an MBA at Southern Methodist University.

In the fiscal year Kress arrived, NVIDIA brought in $4.13 billion in revenue; by fiscal 2026, revenue had reached $215.9 billion.

NVIDIA's proxy statement said Kress received a fiscal 2026 pay package worth $14 million, including restricted stock units. The filing also noted that executive officers can be dismissed without cause and do not have personal contracts covering employment, severance or a change in control.

Forbes placed Kress at No. 32 in its 2026 ranking of America's richest self-made women. Her estimated wealth was $1.2 billion in mid-2026, the publication's list showed.

Kress's NVIDIA stock was valued at more than $1 billion when shares reached their October high. After the market's recent decline, her company holdings were worth roughly $750 million.

A person familiar with the matter said Kress and her staff clashed with Huang and the sales team over high-risk financing deals, which some Wall Street critics viewed as fueling a circular AI economy. That included investments in OpenAI and AI infrastructure firms such as Lambda. Two people familiar with the matter said Kress had been the only NVIDIA executive willing over the years to challenge Huang's goals, acting as an important check on him.

The OpenAI data center project in Ohio was initially backed by a proposed $250 billion plan, later cut to $120 billion.

A fifth source said Kress was aware that Huang had a relationship with Kimberly Powell, NVIDIA's vice president of healthcare and his direct report.

In a statement on Thursday, Kress said she would build on the “extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years.”

While turmoil unfolded within the company, Kress recently joined calls aimed at reassuring customers and suppliers, a source familiar with the matter said.

Naming Kress to the temporary post could reassure markets, said Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy, though he doubts she has the long-term vision NVIDIA needs to maintain its current trajectory.

NPR's Kevin Roose said Kress is a longtime NVIDIA figure, known to investors through company calls but unfamiliar to much of the AI world; she's neither a household name nor a product visionary.

Roose said Kress should first reassure customers, employees and investors, then decide whether NVIDIA should continue funding its deals with AI labs, including commitments worth hundreds of billions of dollars and financing arrangements that circle back on themselves.

Roose said Kress will face a board investigation, an FBI inquiry and likely congressional scrutiny of NVIDIA's chip sales in China.

Roose said Huang was open about not believing in succession planning and did not have special share classes or special voting control, which is why the board was able to make him go.

NVIDIA may pursue a more conventional approach in DC under Kress, building relationships and support rather than confronting officials over export controls as Huang did, a source familiar with the matter said.

Sunny Cheung of the Washington-based Jamestown Foundation said lawmakers may question Kress about how the company monitored chip sales tied to Chinese military-linked institutions and Southeast Asian intermediaries.

Possible contenders also include AMD CEO Lisa Su and Arm boss Rene Haas, along with NVIDIA executive Ian Buck, who helped bring AI to NVIDIA chips and oversaw the creation of its CUDA software system.

Market watchers believe the board could consider candidates from outside the company for the permanent role leading the AI linchpin.

NVIDIA did not address either of Huang's relationships in its Thursday announcement, and the company has not provided notable new updates in its internal review.

China has denied the spying allegations, and Reuters was not able to contact Alice Huang for comment.

Kress recalled in a 2023 interview with an Israeli publication that her two young sons encouraged her to take a job at NVIDIA in 2013, since they recognized its chips from video games.

The board has not set a timeline for naming a permanent CEO, and NVIDIA has not said when its internal review into Huang's foreign intelligence exposure will conclude.