NVIDIA turns to longtime CFO Colette Kress to lead after Jensen Huang's exit

Photo of By Tawheda Ali By Tawheda Ali Send an email November 13, 2026
5 minutes read
Colette Kress takes the helm at NVIDIA as Jensen Huang steps down

NVIDIA has appointed long-serving Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim chief executive officer following the resignation of co-founder Jensen Huang, placing one of the company’s most senior executives in charge as the board searches for a permanent successor.

Kress will retain her position as executive vice president and CFO while taking on the additional responsibility of leading the company. NVIDIA announced the appointment on November 12, a day after its board accepted Huang’s resignation as president, CEO and a member of the board, effective immediately.

The appointment gives NVIDIA an interim leader with more than a decade of experience inside the company. Kress joined the chipmaker in September 2013 and has overseen its finance organisation through its expansion from a major graphics processor supplier into one of the central companies in the global artificial intelligence industry.

The board has begun searching for a permanent CEO and will consider both internal and external candidates. It has also appointed longtime director Harvey C. Jones as its first-ever board chair.

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In announcing the transition, Jones described Kress as an executive with a deep understanding of NVIDIA’s business, customers, operations and financial position. He said the company expected its operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption.

Kress said she would work with the existing leadership team to build on the foundation established during Huang’s 33 years at the company. She added that NVIDIA would remain focused on customers, partners, developers and shareholders.

Who is Colette Kress?

Kress has served as NVIDIA’s executive vice president and CFO since joining the company in 2013. Before that, she held senior finance positions at Cisco and Microsoft, following an earlier career in the technology industry that included Texas Instruments.

Her experience at NVIDIA has covered a period of considerable expansion. The company moved from its established graphics and gaming markets into accelerated computing, data centre infrastructure and AI processors, becoming a major supplier to companies building and operating large AI systems.

As CFO, Kress has been involved in managing the financial demands of that growth, including capital allocation, investment decisions and the company’s relationships with customers and partners.

Her appointment places an executive familiar with NVIDIA’s financial position and internal operations at the head of the company. However, the interim designation means the board has not yet committed to making her Huang’s permanent replacement.

The search will be overseen by Jones, who has served on NVIDIA’s board since 1993. His appointment as chair gives him a central governance role during the succession process.

Why Jensen Huang’s departure matters

Huang co-founded NVIDIA in 1993 and led the company through its development from a graphics chipmaker into a major force in AI computing. His departure ends a 33-year period in which he held the top executive position and became closely associated with the company’s strategy, products and public identity.

The transition comes at a consequential point for NVIDIA. Demand for its processors has made the company a central supplier to the AI infrastructure market, while its investments and commercial arrangements have extended its influence across data centres, cloud computing providers and AI developers.

Huang was also closely involved in NVIDIA’s engagement with governments and the technology industry, including discussions over US restrictions on advanced chip exports to China. His exit therefore leaves the company with a leadership transition to manage while it continues to navigate a politically sensitive market and substantial customer commitments.

The circumstances surrounding his departure have also attracted attention. Reports about Huang’s personal relationships, including allegations involving a business associate linked to Singapore-based Megaspeed and an NVIDIA employee, had drawn scrutiny before the company announced his resignation.

Separate reporting has described concerns among US officials about possible links between the Megaspeed associate and Chinese intelligence. Those allegations have not been established as fact. The controversy has also brought attention to questions about the company’s exposure to China and the handling of sensitive chip shipments.

NVIDIA’s public announcement did not give a reason for Huang’s resignation. Its regulatory filing confirmed that the board accepted his departure and appointed Kress as interim CEO, but did not detail the circumstances behind the decision.

NVIDIA faces a leadership transition during the AI boom

Kress takes over a company whose business has become closely tied to the global expansion of AI infrastructure. NVIDIA’s processors are used to train and run AI models, while its wider platform includes networking equipment, software and systems used by data centre operators.

The company has also committed substantial capital to businesses across the AI ecosystem. These relationships have helped support demand for its hardware, but have attracted investor attention as the industry takes on significant debt to finance new computing capacity.

Huang’s departure leaves Kress and the existing executive team responsible for maintaining confidence in NVIDIA’s strategy while the board considers its long-term leadership options.

The company is due to report its third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on November 17, as previously scheduled. The results and subsequent earnings call will provide an early opportunity for investors to hear how the leadership transition is being handled and whether the company intends to maintain its existing business priorities.

Jensen Huang’s exit becomes social media meme material

Beyond the boardroom and financial markets, Huang’s departure and the allegations surrounding it have generated a wave of jokes, memes and AI-generated videos on social media.

The reaction has drawn on the contrast between the controversy and Huang’s established public image as a leather-jacket-wearing technology executive. His long relationship with his wife, Lori, and the fact that their two children also work at NVIDIA have featured in online jokes about marriage, divorce and infidelity.

Some posts borrowed from the film 500 Days of Summer, while others referenced Usher’s Confessions Part II, a song about cheating. Another AI-generated video recreated the viral Coldplay concert incident in which a startup executive and a colleague were caught embracing on a stadium screen.

Generative AI has also become part of the online response. Copyleaks, which analyses AI-generated and manipulated content, identified at least 70 AI-related posts involving Huang and Alice Huang on X by the morning of November 9. Those posts had accumulated approximately 8.42 million views and 64,362 engagements at the time.

For NVIDIA, however, the immediate priority is the leadership transition. Kress must maintain the company’s operational momentum while the board determines who will permanently succeed the executive who led it for more than three decades.

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Photo of By Tawheda Ali By Tawheda Ali Send an email November 13, 2026
5 minutes read
Photo of By Tawheda Ali

By Tawheda Ali

I cover innovation, startups, sustainability and digital trends shaping Africa's tech landscape. Got a scoop? Reach out at tawheda@techtrendsmedia.co.ke
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