Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Resigns

Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s cofounder, president and CEO, has stepped down effective immediately. This comes days after reports of two extramarital affairs, including one with an alleged Chinese spy, emerged. 

Current CFO Colette Kress has been appointed as the interim CEO.

The Nvidia board said that Harvey C Jones has been roped in as its first-ever Chair of the Board.  Jones has been an entrepreneur, technology executive, and active venture investor for over 30 years, including serving as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman of Synopsys.

“Colette has helped lead NVIDIA through a period of extraordinary growth and has a deep understanding of our business, customers, operations and financial position,” said Harvey Jones, Chair of the NVIDIA Board of Directors in a statement. “She is supported by an experienced leadership team that has been instrumental in executing NVIDIA’s strategy and advancing its technology roadmap. The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team, and we expect the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption.”  

“NVIDIA’s strength has always come from its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years,” said Colette Kress, Interim CEO and CFO, NVIDIA. “We will continue advancing the work that has made NVIDIA a leader in accelerated computing and AI, and execute on the opportunities ahead. Our focus remains on serving our customers, partners, developers and shareholders.”

That said, Huang had been with Nvidia since its founding days in 1993. He’s also credited for Nvidia’s exponential growth in recent years, especially with the demand for its AI GPUs. 

Huang, however, found himself caught in a controversy after news broke that he had an affair with an executive of a Singapore-based tech company and also an Nvidia customer. The executive is alleged to have been spying on the behalf of China and gathering information about the company’s advanced AI chips. Huang later admitted the extramarital affair, and sought apology to family and shareholders. 

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