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US November 12, 2026 - NVIDIA co-founder Jensen Huang has resigned as president, chief executive officer and board member with immediate effect, ending his 33-year run at the helm of the world’s dominant supplier of artificial-intelligence chips. The company’s board named Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO while it searches for a permanent successor.
The resignation follows days of intensifying pressure over reports of Huang’s extramarital relationships, including one with a businesswoman whom U.S. intelligence agencies reportedly view as a potential Chinese intelligence asset. NVIDIA has said it has no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised, but it has opened an independent investigation into the allegations.
NVIDIA announced on Thursday that Huang had resigned from all three of his corporate roles: president, CEO and director. The announcement said Kress, NVIDIA’s executive vice-president and CFO, would serve as interim CEO.
Huang, 63, founded NVIDIA in 1993 and had led it continuously since its inception. Under his leadership, the company evolved from a graphics-chip maker into the central supplier of the processors used to train and run generative AI systems.
The departure comes after a rapid sequence of revelations. On November 8, NVIDIA said its board would launch an independent investigation after reporting alleged that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. The board appointed a committee of independent directors, assisted by outside counsel, to oversee the review.
Huang publicly apologised the same day, saying in a message to employees that he had been unfaithful to his wife and that his actions had hurt her and their children. “There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry,” he said, according to NVIDIA’s published statement.
At that stage, NVIDIA said Huang remained committed to leading the company. But the situation escalated after further reporting alleged a separate relationship with a senior NVIDIA executive, and after members of Congress began calling for his resignation and possible testimony.
On November 11, Reuters reported that NVIDIA’s board had met to decide whether to remove Huang. By Thursday, the board had accepted his resignation.
The immediate trigger was a leadership and reputational crisis, not an announced operational failure at NVIDIA. Reporting alleged that Huang had relationships with two women, including Alice Huang, a businesswoman connected to Megaspeed, a Chinese company and NVIDIA customer.
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The allegations raised two distinct concerns. The first was personal conduct: Huang admitted infidelity and apologised publicly. The second was corporate governance and national security: the reported connection to a person viewed by U.S. intelligence as a potential Chinese intelligence asset created questions about access, influence and the protection of commercially sensitive technology.
NVIDIA’s board has said it had no reason to believe that national security or NVIDIA secrets had been compromised. Nevertheless, it said the inquiry would examine all available information, reflecting the extraordinary sensitivity of a company whose chips sit at the centre of the global AI race and U.S. export-control policy.
Political pressure compounded the corporate crisis. Lawmakers called for Huang to resign and for Congress to investigate the matter, while reporting said momentum was building toward a possible subpoena. Huang’s close political relationship with President Donald Trump also became part of the story, as critics questioned whether NVIDIA’s access to policymakers had become too personal.
Huang’s resignation is effective immediately. Kress, who has served as NVIDIA’s CFO, is now interim CEO, while Harvey C. Jones has been appointed the company’s first-ever chair of the board, according to the company’s announcement.
The independent investigation remains underway. NVIDIA hired law firm Wachtell Lipton to lead the probe into the intelligence allegations, according to reporting cited by CNBC. The board has not publicly said how long the review will take or whether it will result in further governance changes.
NVIDIA has sought to reassure investors and customers that the business will continue without interruption. Before the resignation, the board said it had confidence in Huang and his leadership team; after his departure, the company’s immediate priority is continuity of strategy, supply and customer relationships.
The market reaction has been volatile. NVIDIA’s shares fell as the board weighed Huang’s future, and CNBC reported that the stock had experienced a recent pullback tied both to the scandal and a broader sell-off in AI-related shares.
The most immediate question is whether Kress’s interim appointment becomes permanent. NVIDIA has not announced a timetable for selecting a successor, but the board’s decision to appoint an internal financial leader suggests it wants stability while it assesses both the investigation and the company’s leadership needs.