In a seismic shakeup for the global artificial intelligence and semiconductor industries, Nvidia co-founder, president, and longtime chief executive officer Jensen Huang has officially resigned from the company, effective immediately. The announcement, issued by Nvidia’s Board of Directors on Thursday, November 12, 2026, abruptly ends Huang’s 33-year tenure at the helm of the technology giant he co-founded in 1993.
The departure follows a tumultuous week triggered by revelations of multiple extramarital affairs—most notably a relationship with a businesswoman suspected by U.S. intelligence officials of acting as a Chinese intelligence operative.
To stabilize operations during the executive transition, Nvidia’s Board of Directors announced immediate governance appointments while initiating a formal search for a permanent replacement considering both internal and external candidates:
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress, who has served as Nvidia’s CFO since September 2013, will step in as interim CEO while retaining her current financial responsibilities.
Longtime director and former Synopsys CEO Harvey C. Jones has been appointed as Nvidia’s first-ever Chair of the Board.
Alongside stepping down as CEO and president, Huang has permanently vacated his seat on Nvidia’s Board of Directors.
“Jensen’s contributions to NVIDIA are profound. NVIDIA is one of the most consequential technology companies in the world. The Board and the company thank Jensen for his immeasurable contributions to the company and the industry,” Nvidia’s Board of Directors stated in its official transition announcement.
Huang’s resignation comes after mounting pressure from U.S. lawmakers, federal investigators, and institutional shareholders over both national security vulnerabilities and internal corporate governance standards:
Investigative reports by The New York Times revealed that Huang engaged in an extramarital relationship with Alice Huang (no relation), a former executive at Singapore-based firm Megaspeed International. U.S. intelligence surveillance reportedly indicated that Alice Huang was feeding information to Beijing, raising alarm bells in Washington given Megaspeed’s role as a major Southeast Asian partner acquiring billions of dollars in restricted Nvidia AI hardware. Beijing has officially denied the espionage allegations.
On November 8, Huang admitted to infidelity in an internal memo to employees as Nvidia’s board launched an independent investigation. Subsequent reporting by The New York Times and Reuters uncovered alleged workplace relationships involving two female Nvidia employees, including a subordinate executive, compounding calls for his removal.
Nvidia and Huang currently face a shareholder class-action lawsuit alleging investors were misled regarding the legal and geopolitical risks tied to the relationship. Additionally, Huang has agreed to testify before U.S. Congress as lawmakers investigate potential export-control breaches.
Under Huang’s leadership, Nvidia evolved from a PC graphics card pioneer into the dominant hardware engine of the global AI boom. While the scandal triggered sharp volatility in Nvidia’s stock price over the past week, market analysts note that the company’s foundational hardware dominance and CUDA software ecosystem remain intact as it prepares for its upcoming fiscal third-quarter earnings call on Tuesday, November 17.
For gamers, developers, and enterprise partners worldwide including rapidly expanding AI and gaming ecosystems across Asia attention now turns to Interim CEO Colette Kress and how Nvidia’s leadership team will navigate heightened regulatory oversight in Washington while maintaining its next-generation product roadmap.