Colette Kress, the interim chief executive of Nvidia, was excluded from a list of powerful women in technology compiled by WIRED after the publication contacted Jensen Huang for his input. The magazine asked Huang to identify high-ranking female executives in Silicon Valley who hold significant financial capital or political influence. He named Dina Powell of Meta, Ruth Porat of Google, and Gwynne Shotwell of SpaceX. Huang did not include Kress, who serves as his chief financial officer and co-presents on quarterly earnings calls. She manages the finances of one of the most valuable companies globally and currently holds the highest executive position within the organisation. Her omission highlights a pattern where men in leadership roles overlook women already operating at the top of their own organisations. Kress now leads Nvidia through a precarious moment in the artificial intelligence industry, making decisions that affect tech, geopolitics, and the broader economy. Her role as interim chief executive places her at the centre of strategic choices that will reverberate across the sector regardless of whether her promotion becomes permanent. This incident underscores how internal power dynamics often remain invisible to external observers until specific questions are asked.
- Kress was Nvidia’s chief financial officer before becoming interim chief executive.
- Huang mentioned executives from Meta, Google, and SpaceX instead of his own company.
- The list appeared in a WIRED feature examining power for women in technology.
