- Jensen Huang resigned as CEO, president, and board member of Nvidia effective immediately on November 12, 2026.
- The resignation follows a Wall Street Journal report that Nvidia’s board was preparing to fire Huang over two affairs, one involving a suspected Chinese intelligence contact.
- Nvidia has lost roughly $1.4 trillion in market value since an October 29 New York Times report raised questions about Huang’s ties to Chinese intelligence.
- CFO Colette Kress becomes interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent successor; Harvey C. Jones becomes Nvidia’s first independent board chair.
What Happened
Jensen Huang resigned as CEO, president, and board member of Nvidia effective immediately, according to a company statement issued November 12, 2026, as reported by The Decoder on November 12, 2026. The move came after the Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia’s board was planning to fire Huang following revelations about two extramarital affairs, one of them with a suspected Chinese intelligence contact. CFO Colette Kress is taking over as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent replacement.
Why It Matters
The resignation caps a scandal that began with a US intelligence memo reported November 8 alleging China recruited a Megaspeed executive to spy on Huang. Since the New York Times report on October 29 first tied Huang to the espionage concerns, Nvidia has shed roughly $1.4 trillion in market value. The scandal arrives weeks after Huang had been courting governments directly, including a $2 billion pledge to Europe and UK AI safety labs.
Technical Details
Harvey C. Jones will serve as Nvidia’s first independent board chair and said business operations continue without disruption. Huang built Nvidia’s market position through a web of alliances with financiers and roughly $300 billion in guarantees extended to smaller customers to secure chip orders. Replacing that structure will be difficult because it was built entirely around his personal relationships with partners.
Who’s Affected
Nvidia’s biggest customers, including Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet, along with AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic, depend heavily on the supply and financing arrangements Huang personally negotiated. Any disruption to those guarantees could ripple through chip allocation and pricing across the industry.
What’s Next
The board’s search for a permanent CEO will determine whether Nvidia maintains its existing financing arrangements with smaller AI chip customers. Kress inherits oversight of the roughly $300 billion in guarantees without the personal relationships Huang used to secure them.
