Jensen Huang resigns as Nvidia CEO after a week of spy and affair revelations

Jensen Huang, who co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and led it through the AI boom that made it one of the most valuable companies in the world, has resigned as chief executive. A regulatory filing published Thursday says the board accepted his resignation on Wednesday, Nov. 11. The company did not give a reason.

Chief financial officer Colette Kress becomes interim CEO and keeps her role as CFO. The board says it will consider internal and external candidates for the permanent job. Harvey C. Jones, the managing partner of Square Wave Ventures, a former Synopsys chief executive and a Nvidia director since 1993, becomes the company's first board chair. Jones said the board has full confidence in Kress and the leadership team.

The filing describes a resignation. CNBC, citing a person familiar with the matter, reported that the board decided on Wednesday night to remove Huang.

Five days that ended a 33-year run

• Oct. 29. The New York Times reports a close relationship between Huang and Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore company that bought billions of dollars of Nvidia hardware. The two are not related. Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo calls the interactions “not unusual or unexpected.”
• Nov. 5. Three House Republican committee chairs, John Moolenaar (China Select Committee), Brian Mast (Foreign Affairs) and Rick Crawford (Intelligence), ask Huang for a closed-door joint briefing.
• Nov. 8. Huang tells employees in an email, also issued as a press release, that he was unfaithful to his wife, and apologizes. He does not name the other person. The board opens an independent investigation and says it has no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised. President Trump calls Huang “a fine person” and says he should stay on.
• Nov. 9. Shares fall more than 5%. Huang withdraws from the ElevenLabs Summit and the Anthropic CEO Forum.
• Nov. 11. The Times reports a separate relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare, who reports directly to Huang, citing five current and former employees. The Wall Street Journal reports the board will meet on his future. Shares drop about 8% after hours.
• Nov. 12. Nvidia announces the resignation. Reuters reports a third relationship, with an employee it does not name.

The market reaction

Nvidia shares fell more than 13% in early trading Thursday before paring some of the loss. The stock had already lost 11% over the five sessions through Wednesday. CBS News calculated that through Tuesday's close the shares were down 25% from $225.83, the price on May 13, the day a short seller first flagged Huang's ties to Megaspeed.

A shareholder has filed a proposed class action in federal court in California. The complaint alleges Nvidia and Huang misled investors about the relationship with Alice Huang and failed to disclose national security concerns, and brings a securities fraud claim under Section 10(b) against both.

What comes next

• Congress. Huang has agreed to testify before Thanksgiving, Rep. Mast said, in a closed session that Mast expects to be recorded and transcribed. Rep. Moolenaar had said on Fox Business that Huang would likely be subpoenaed if he did not agree to appear.
• Megaspeed. The Times reported that the Justice Department has taken over the federal investigation into Megaspeed. Trump has said the FBI is looking at the ties between the two Huangs.
• The board's own review. The independent investigation opened on Nov. 8 continues.
• Succession. CNBC cited an analyst estimate that the interim arrangement could last about a year.