Jensen Huang resigned as president, chief executive and a board member of Nvidia on 12 November 2026, ending a 33-year run as the only chief executive the chipmaker has ever had. Nvidia’s announcement gave no reason for his departure.

The resignation followed weeks of scrutiny over Huang’s extramarital relationships and a board investigation into reports that he may have been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. The day before the announcement, The Wall Street Journal reported that directors were preparing to remove him. This explainer sets out what is known — and what is not — about why he left.

What exactly did Nvidia announce?

Nvidia said on 12 November that its board had accepted Huang’s resignation, effective immediately, from all three of his roles: president, chief executive and director. Chief financial officer Colette Kress, 59, was named interim chief executive while keeping her finance role, and director Harvey C. Jones, 73, was appointed as the company’s first-ever chair of the board.

Notably, Huang gave up his board seat as well as the chief executive’s job. Under Nvidia’s bylaws he could have remained a director after leaving the chief executive’s role, but he resigned from all positions at once. The company’s filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission disclosed no severance, separation or equity arrangements for Huang, and neither the filing nor the press release stated a reason for the resignation.

What led up to the resignation?

The controversy built over several weeks, and the sequence of events is now a matter of public record:

At the centre of the reports was a relationship between Huang and Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based AI infrastructure company Megaspeed International, whom US intelligence officials suspect of spying for China, according to reports in the New York Times and other outlets. That suspicion is an allegation made in reporting; it has not been established as fact, and Nvidia’s announcement made no findings about it.

Separate reports on 12 November said Singapore had barred Alice Huang from re-entering the country amid the Nvidia probe. Huang, who co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and had led it ever since, owns about 3.6 per cent of the company’s stock, and USA Today noted that he had no obvious successor.

Who is Colette Kress?

Colette Kress has been Nvidia’s executive vice president and chief financial officer since September 2013, making her one of the longest-serving members of the company’s senior leadership. As interim chief executive she will run the company while the board searches for a permanent successor, and she keeps her finance role during the transition.

Her appointment is explicitly temporary. Nvidia has said the board is beginning a formal search and has not announced who will take the job on a lasting basis, or how long the search will take.

What has Nvidia not said?

Almost as important as what Nvidia announced is what it did not say. The company has given no reason for Huang’s resignation, disclosed no terms of any separation agreement, and announced no findings from the independent investigation the board opened on 8 November. Whether that investigation continues, and what it has found, remains unknown.

The board did say it expects operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap to continue without interruption. That assurance matters because Nvidia sits at the centre of the global artificial intelligence boom: its chips power most of the world’s AI data centres, and any doubt about its leadership is felt across the technology industry and the stock market.

What happens next?

Three things will show how the transition is going. The first is the chief executive search itself, and whether the board picks an insider who can steady the company or an outsider who signals a fresh start. The second is the scheduled results announcement on 17 November, when Kress will face investors for the first time as interim chief executive. The third is whether the board’s investigation produces any findings that change the story of why Huang left.

Until then, the honest answer to why Jensen Huang resigned is that Nvidia has not said — but that he left the day after reports that his own board was preparing to remove him, and three days after that board opened an investigation into whether he had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation.

Frequently asked questions

Was Jensen Huang fired from Nvidia?

He resigned. Nvidia said its board accepted his resignation on 11 November. However, the resignation came a day after The Wall Street Journal reported that directors were preparing to remove him, so several reports have described it as effectively a forced exit under pressure.

Who is running Nvidia now?

Chief financial officer Colette Kress is interim chief executive while keeping her finance role. The board has begun a search for a permanent successor among internal and external candidates.

Did Nvidia give a reason for the resignation?

No. Neither Nvidia’s announcement nor its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission stated a reason, and no findings from the board’s investigation have been announced.

When will Nvidia report its next results?

Third-quarter fiscal 2027 results remain scheduled for Tuesday 17 November 2026, as previously planned, with an earnings call the same day.

Sources: USA Today, “Jensen Huang resigns as Nvidia CEO amid affair probe”, 12 November 2026; Brimco, Nvidia Form 8-K filing summary, 12 November 2026.