Nvidia has a new chief executive for the first time in 33 years. Jensen Huang resigned as president, chief executive and a member of the board on 11 November 2026, and the company announced the change the following day. Chief financial officer Colette Kress is running the company as interim chief executive while the board searches for a permanent successor, and the first big test arrives on 17 November, when Nvidia reports its latest quarterly results.

The resignation ends one of the longest and most successful runs in modern business. Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and built it from a graphics-chip start-up into the company at the centre of the artificial intelligence boom. But his departure was announced without a reason, and it followed a week of damaging reports about his private life and an investigation by the board. This explainer sets out what has been confirmed, what happens next, and what is still unanswered.

Who is running Nvidia now?

Colette Kress, Nvidia's executive vice-president and chief financial officer, is interim chief executive. She has been chief financial officer since September 2013 and will keep that job while she leads the company. The board said it is looking for a permanent chief executive and will consider candidates from inside and outside the company.

The board also appointed Harvey C. Jones as its first-ever chair. Jones has been a director since 1993 and is a former chief executive and executive chairman of Synopsys, a chip-design software company. The creation of a separate chair role is itself a change: Nvidia has never previously had a board chair, and Huang had combined the chief executive and board leadership roles.

Kress moved quickly after the announcement. She gathered Nvidia's executive team at the company's headquarters on 12 November and, in a memo to employees, said the company would hold a meeting on 18 November. The message, reported by Reuters, acknowledged that it had been "an extraordinarily difficult period" for the company.

Why did Jensen Huang resign?

Nvidia's announcement gave no reason for the resignation. The company's filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission records only that the board accepted Huang's resignation on 11 November, effective immediately. Neither the filing nor the press release mentions the board investigation announced on 8 November, or anything that investigation may have found.

The context, as reported by several news organisations, is as follows. On 8 November, Huang admitted that he had been unfaithful to his wife, and the board announced an independent investigation into reports that he had been the target of a foreign intelligence operation. The reports concerned his relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based cloud company Megaspeed, whom US authorities have concluded was a Chinese intelligence asset, according to Reuters.

On 11 November, the New York Times reported that Huang had also had an extramarital relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice-president of healthcare, who reported directly to him. Huang has not publicly addressed that report, and Nvidia has not commented on it. The Wall Street Journal reported the same day that the board was preparing to remove Huang, and the board met that evening to decide his future. By the following morning, he had resigned.

It is important to be clear about what has and has not been established. The resignation is a confirmed fact. The affairs reported by the New York Times and others are allegations that have been reported, not findings by Nvidia or by any court. The company's statement describes a resignation, not a dismissal, and the board's investigation has produced no published findings.

What happens to Nvidia's results on 17 November?

Nvidia will report results for the third quarter of its 2027 fiscal year on Tuesday 17 November, as previously scheduled, at about 1:20pm Pacific time, with an earnings call at 2pm Pacific. The company confirmed the date in its announcement, and it will be the first results published since Huang left.

The results will be watched closely for two reasons. First, investors will want to see whether demand for Nvidia's AI chips remains strong after a week in which the shares have fallen sharply. Second, Kress will lead the earnings call, and her comments on demand, supply and the company's product plans will be read as the first statement of direction from the new leadership.

Nothing in the announcement changed Nvidia's financial guidance, and the leadership change does not by itself alter the company's orders, products or customers. But the timing is awkward: the results land five days after the resignation, so the numbers will be judged partly as a verdict on the company without its founder.

What does the resignation mean for Nvidia's shares?

Nvidia's shares fell by more than 13% in early trading on 12 November after the resignation was announced, before recovering much of the loss during the session. The fall followed an 8% drop in after-hours trading on 11 November, after the Wall Street Journal reported that directors were preparing to remove Huang.

The selling spread beyond Nvidia. Chip stocks fell across Asia on 12 November, and the wider market treated the news as a shock to the AI trade, in which Nvidia has been the central stock. Huang is Nvidia's fourth-largest shareholder, with a stake of about 3.6%, and Forbes estimated his net worth at $142.9 billion on 12 November, after a fall of more than $20 billion during the week.

Investors now face a company whose value has been closely tied to one person. For 33 years, Huang was the public face of Nvidia and the architect of its strategy, from graphics chips to the data-centre hardware that powers AI systems. The question for shareholders is whether the business, its customers and its technology plans are strong enough to carry on without him, and the 17 November results are the first chance to judge that.

Will Jensen Huang testify before Congress?

Huang has agreed to testify before Congress before Thanksgiving, according to CNBC, and the appearance is expected to concern his relationship with Alice Huang and the questions it raises about foreign intelligence. The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Brian Mast, has been involved in arranging the appearance, according to Bloomberg.

The congressional interest had been building before the resignation. The chairman of the House China Committee, John Moolenaar, told Huang he had until the end of 11 November to respond to a letter from lawmakers requesting information, or face a subpoena. President Donald Trump has also said that an FBI inquiry into Huang's relationship with Alice Huang is under way.

Huang's departure from Nvidia does not end those inquiries. The board's independent investigation and the FBI inquiry concern his conduct and his contacts, not his employment, and neither Nvidia nor the authorities has said whether the board investigation will continue now that he has left.

Who could be the next Nvidia chief executive?

Nobody has been named, and the board has given no timetable. It said only that it will consider internal and external candidates. Nvidia has not identified an obvious successor: Huang ran the company for its entire life as a public company, and no deputy has been publicly groomed for the role.

Two names have been raised in public, neither of them by Nvidia. President Donald Trump suggested that Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple, should replace Huang. Elon Musk, responding on X to a post asking him to hire Huang, wrote: "That would be an honor." Neither comment amounts to a candidacy, and there is no reporting that either man is under consideration by the board.

The choice matters beyond Nvidia. The company supplies the chips that power much of the world's AI development, and its next leader will inherit a business under pressure from rivals, from export controls on sales to China, and now from the scrutiny that follows a scandal at the top. The board's decision will be judged not only on who is chosen, but on how quickly a permanent appointment is made.

What is still unanswered?

Several important questions remain open. Nvidia has not said whether the independent investigation announced on 8 November will continue, or whether it will publish any findings. It has not explained why Huang resigned, beyond recording the resignation itself. And it has not said when a permanent chief executive will be named.

The company has also not commented on reports of a second alleged affair, or on the status of the FBI inquiry. Until those questions are answered, by the company, by Congress, or by the publication of the investigation's findings, the full story of why one of the most powerful executives in technology left his company in a single day will remain incomplete.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Nvidia's chief executive now?
Colette Kress, the company's chief financial officer, is interim chief executive. She keeps her finance role while the board searches for a permanent successor.

Why did Jensen Huang resign?
Nvidia gave no reason in its announcement. The resignation followed reports of extramarital affairs and a board investigation, but the company has published no findings and describes the departure as a resignation, not a dismissal.

Is Jensen Huang still on Nvidia's board?
No. He resigned as president, chief executive and a member of the board, all effective immediately.

When will Nvidia name a permanent chief executive?
No date has been given. The board said it will consider internal and external candidates.

Does Huang still own Nvidia shares?
Yes. He holds about 3.6% of the company, making him its fourth-largest shareholder, according to Reuters.

Sources: USA Today, Reuters via BusinessWorld.