# Jensen Huang resigns from Nvidia as Colette Kress takes over amid scandal

Nvidia confirms Huang’s immediate departure as CEO and director. Its finance chief steps in while the board searches for a permanent successor.

By 567 Business AI News Desk · 567 Business
Published: 2026-11-12T14:11:52.971933Z
Updated: 2026-11-12T14:11:52.971933Z
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Jensen Huang has resigned as Nvidia’s president, chief executive and board member, effective immediately, the company [announced on November 12](https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-ceo-transition). The decision turns days of questions about the founder’s future into a confirmed change at the top of the chipmaker.

Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO while keeping her chief financial officer role. Nvidia will consider internal and outside candidates for the permanent job. Harvey C. Jones becomes board chair. The announcement does not give a reason for Huang’s resignation or disclose findings from the board’s investigation.

## A leadership change, with the inquiry still unresolved

The announcement follows a sequence of public statements that should be read separately. On November 8, Huang [told employees he had been unfaithful to his wife](https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/a-message-to-our-company), accepted responsibility and said he would cooperate with the board’s review. His message did not identify his partner or admit an export-control violation.

The same day, Nvidia’s board [announced an independent investigation](https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/statement-from-nvidia-board-of-directors) after reports that Huang had been targeted by foreign intelligence. It said it had no reason to believe that company secrets or national security had been compromised. That was the board’s stated position at the start of the inquiry, not a published final finding.

On November 10, independent directors [named former acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz](https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/statement-from-the-independent-members-of-the-nvidia-board) to conduct the investigation. That short statement provided no deadline.

Those distinctions matter. A departure from office establishes who runs the business. It does not, on its own, establish whether an intelligence allegation is true or whether restricted technology reached an unauthorized buyer. Our earlier [timeline of the Nvidia scandal](/news/nvidia-spy-scandal-timeline-alice-huang-megaspeed) traces the reports and official responses before Thursday’s announcement.

 ```diagram
type: timeline
title: Nvidia’s public response
source: [Nvidia newsroom](https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-ceo-transition)
---
November 8: Board announces investigation.
November 10: Independent directors name outside counsel.
November 12: Huang resigns; Kress becomes interim CEO.
```

## The business question moves to execution

Nvidia says it expects its operations, customer commitments and product plans to continue without interruption. Its next earnings release remains scheduled for November 17, followed by a call at 2 p.m. Pacific time. That makes the call a near-term chance for management to explain how it intends to maintain continuity.

The concern extends beyond a single executive’s office. In reporting published before the resignation, [Reuters described unease among Nvidia’s Asian suppliers](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/nvidias-asian-supply-chain-prepares-for-life-after-huang-5020631). An unnamed Taiwan supplier executive worried that a successor might move less quickly to secure manufacturing capacity. Counterpoint Research analyst Neil Shah said a change could slow ambitious investments and infrastructure agreements. Those are assessments of risk, not evidence that orders have already been canceled.

The useful test will be concrete disclosures: whether delivery plans change, whether major commitments remain intact and whether management revises its outlook. A leadership announcement alone cannot answer those questions. Nor can a sharp stock move reveal the final cost of an investigation.

## What the announcement settles

For readers following the story, the central distinction is now clear. Huang’s departure is confirmed. The outcome of the underlying inquiry is not disclosed in the transition announcement.

Kress inherits both the job of running Nvidia and the task of explaining its next steps. Future reporting should measure company assurances against later results, while keeping any eventual investigative findings separate from speculation about what those findings might show.

Photo: Will Buckner, [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nvidia_sign.jpg). Nvidia campus sign photographed in 2020; cropped for display.