Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang resigns, Colette Kress named interim CEO

Jensen Huang, the co-founder of US chipmaker Nvidia, has resigned as president, chief executive and a member of the board with immediate effect, the company said on Thursday. Huang had led Nvidia since he co-founded it in 1993.

Who will run the company

Colette Kress, Nvidia’s executive vice-president and chief financial officer, will serve as interim chief executive. She will remain finance chief until a permanent successor is named. The board has begun searching for a new CEO and will consider both internal and external candidates.

Board member Harvey Jones, a former chief executive of the software company Synopsys, becomes the first chair of the board in Nvidia’s history. “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,” Jones said in the statement. The board thanked Huang for his “immeasurable contributions”.

No reason given

The company’s statement did not give a reason for the resignation. It follows several days of reports in US media about Huang’s private life, which the Nvidia statement did not mention.

Shares and what comes next

Nvidia shares fell more than 10% in morning trading on Thursday, briefly pushing the company’s market value below $4 trillion, CNBC reported. The losses later narrowed. Nvidia is one of the world’s largest makers of chips for artificial intelligence. It will publish third-quarter results as scheduled on Tuesday, 17 November.