Jensen Huang has resigned as Nvidia chief executive after reports of an extramarital affair with a Chinese businesswoman suspected of being a state security asset. The board of directors appointed Colette Kress, who served as chief financial officer since 2013, as interim leader on Thursday.
The board’s choice
Harvey Jones, the newly appointed chair, stated that Kress has guided the company through a period of extraordinary growth. He noted her deep understanding of the business, customers, operations, and financial position. Jones added that the board has full confidence in her ability to lead alongside an experienced team.
Multiple tech executives and industry analysts viewed Kress as the most obvious candidate. Her long tenure, Wall Street credibility, and familiarity with the company’s finances made her a strong fit. A former Nvidia executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, described her as extremely strong-willed and professional. This person noted she does not tolerate nonsense but can also be friendly and gracious. They added that she has a keen sense for how Jensen thinks.
Patrick Moorhead, founder and chief analyst at Moor Insights & Strategies, called Kress the logical choice. He said she has credibility with investors because she answers hard questions directly. Moorhead noted that she operates as much more than a numbers-focused CFO. In conversations with her, she goes deep on the product roadmap, from rack-scale systems to networking and software.
Investigation and public face
Nvidia’s board announced on Sunday it was launching an independent investigation into Huang’s activities. This followed a report by The New York Times regarding his affair with Alice Huang, whom US officials suspected of being a Chinese spy. WIRED reported that Huang quietly hired a crisis communications firm last year to handle matters related to his personal life. By October of that year, the firm was being looped in on all press inquiries involving Huang. Around the same time, The New York Times reported that US authorities were investigating whether a company linked to Alice Huang had helped Chinese firms evade US chip export controls.
While Huang has long been the public face of Nvidia, Kress has managed the chipmaker’s relationship with Wall Street. On earnings calls, she details financial performance, customer demand, supply constraints, and other key metrics. In 2023, she told the Israeli business newspaper Globes that the company does not focus on the stock price. Instead, they focus on investors and how they would like to innovate.
Background and structure
Kress spent more than two decades in finance roles at Microsoft, Cisco, and Texas Instruments before joining Nvidia. Huang personally recruited her in 2013, when the company was best known for gaming graphics cards. He laid out his vision for the company’s future on a whiteboard, explaining how Nvidia could become a major supplier of computing infrastructure for artificial intelligence.
Other potential successors included Ian Buck, a more than 20-year Nvidia veteran who created the software platform CUDA and now oversees high-performance computing. Jeff Fisher also considered, who joined in 1994 as head of software sales and later became senior vice president of the GeForce unit. Fisher led the strategy for bringing GPUs to market.
Nvidia’s unusual corporate structure meant dozens of executives report directly to Huang. The company lacks a traditional chief operating officer. Even executive vice presidents do not necessarily have direct control over budgets. As a result, few people within the organisation have the same level of understanding of the company’s financials as Kress.
Limitations and style
The former Nvidia executive who spoke to WIRED noted that Kress can step into the CEO role immediately without needing any guidance. However, she does not have the same engineering and technical expertise that Huang brought to his role as a founding CEO. This person also said she has shied away from being at the center of public attention.
Given the intense scrutiny surrounding Huang lately, this leadership style might be a welcome temporary change for Nvidia.
