NVIDIA · AIGC · AI Programming

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Resigns Amid Board Probe and Congress Questions

By 王若风 · Nov 12, 2026

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Nvidia's leadership gap lands during a critical phase for AI infrastructure: Rubin GPUs are ramping into cloud providers, export-control rules are under congressional review, and the interim CEO is a financial executive, not a technical founder. The permanent CEO pick will determine how Nvidia balances shipments, supply-chain commitments, and Washington pressure.

Summary

Jensen Huang resigned from his roles as CEO, president, and director at Nvidia on November 12, ending a 33-year tenure as the company's public face. The announcement came four days after Huang apologized to employees for an extramarital affair and after the board opened an independent investigation into his contacts with a woman linked to a Singapore-based buyer of Nvidia's advanced AI chips. Congress had also demanded a closed briefing on his interactions and on export-control enforcement.

Nvidia's board installed CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO and named Harvey C. Jones, former Synopsys CEO, as its first chairman. The company said operations, customer commitments, and product roadmap would continue as planned, and it started a search for a permanent CEO considering internal and external candidates. The stock fell as much as 9.7% in early trading before recovering to around $163 a share.

Two open questions remain: where Huang goes next, with Musk having said he would be honored to hire him and prediction markets pricing a move to SpaceX/xAI at 38%, and who will become permanent CEO. Nvidia's next earnings call, scheduled for November 17, will be the first test for the new leadership, as data center revenue and Rubin GPU shipments sit at the center of investor scrutiny.

Takeaways

— Huang resigned effective immediately on Nov 12, after 33 years as CEO since co-founding NVIDIA in 1993.

— The board had launched an independent investigation on Nov 8 after Huang's public apology for an affair.

— Congressional committees demanded Huang brief them by Nov 18 on his contacts with Alice Huang and on export-control measures.

— CFO Colette Kress was named interim CEO and will keep her CFO role until a permanent CEO is found.

— Harvey C. Jones, former Synopsys CEO, was appointed as Nvidia's first chairman.

— Nvidia's stock fell up to 9.7% before recovering to around $163, halving the intraday loss.

— Q3 FY2027 earnings call is scheduled for Nov 17; prior quarter revenue was $96.2B, with data center contributing $89B; guidance is $108B plus or minus 2%.

— Vera Rubin GPUs are expanding production with deployments at CoreWeave, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.

— The announcement did not disclose the investigation outcome or the reason for the departure.

— Social media speculation includes Musk's interest in hiring Huang and prediction-market odds of Huang joining SpaceX/xAI by 2026 at 38%, all unverified.

Conclusions

Installing a CFO as interim CEO prioritizes financial stability over technical leadership at a moment when product decisions on Rubin and export controls are pending.

The board's quick transition, combined with the lack of explanation for the resignation, leaves the investigation's outcome unresolved and could fuel continued political pressure.

The speculation about Huang's next move shows the founder's gravitational pull on AI talent and deals, but none of those claims have been confirmed.

The earnings call on Nov 17 will reveal whether the transition is already affecting supply-chain decisions, as suppliers are reportedly watching how fast the new management locks in manufacturing capacity.

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