Jensen Huang Steps Down as Nvidia CEO After 33 Years at the Helm
Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang has left the position of CEO and exited the board of directors. The company has been temporarily taken over by Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress. The board of directors has initiated a search for a permanent successor.
Nvidia announced the leadership change on November 12. Kress will continue to serve as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President. She has been with Nvidia since 2013 and previously held financial positions at Cisco and Microsoft. The board will consider candidates for the permanent CEO position both from within the company and externally.
Harvey Jones, former head of the chip design software developer Synopsys, became the first chair of Nvidia's board of directors. The board stated that it expects to fulfill obligations to clients and maintain the product release schedule. The company still plans to publish its quarterly report on November 17.
The resignation follows an internal review that Nvidia initiated after reports of Huang's relationship with former Megaspeed executive Alice Huang from Singapore. According to the Associated Press, U.S. intelligence suspected her of working for China. Beijing denied these allegations. Nvidia's announcement of the personnel changes did not specify the reason for Huang's departure.
Huang was one of Nvidia's founders in 1993 and had led the company since its inception. During this time, the company, which started with graphics chips, became one of the key suppliers of accelerators for training and operating artificial intelligence models.
