NVIDIA’s board of directors announced on 12 November 2026 that Jensen Huang, the company’s co-founder, has resigned as president, chief executive officer and a member of the board, effective immediately. The chipmaker, whose processors underpin much of the world’s artificial intelligence infrastructure, has appointed long-time chief financial officer Colette Kress as interim CEO and opened a search for a permanent successor.

Kress takes over, Jones becomes first board chair

Kress has served as NVIDIA’s executive vice president and chief financial officer since she joined the company in September 2013, and will keep that finance role while she serves as interim chief executive. Before NVIDIA, she spent nearly 25 years in finance at Cisco and Microsoft. The board said it will consider both internal and external candidates for a permanent CEO.

The directors also appointed Harvey C. Jones, a member of the board since 1993 and a former chief executive and executive chairman of Synopsys, as NVIDIA’s first-ever chair of the board.

“Colette has helped lead NVIDIA through a period of extraordinary growth and has a deep understanding of our business, customers, operations and financial position,” Jones said in the company’s official announcement. “The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team, and we expect the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption.”

Kress said NVIDIA’s strength “has always come from its people” and that she is “committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years.” The company’s focus, she said, remains on customers, partners, developers and shareholders.

Huang co-founded NVIDIA in 1993 and led it through the GPU era into its position as the central supplier of accelerated computing for generative and agentic AI. The board thanked him for what it called “immeasurable contributions to the company and the industry.” A filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission states that the board accepted the resignation on 11 November 2026.

The company did not give a reason for the departure. The announcement followed several days of media reports about Huang’s personal relationships and a board review of his position.

Market reaction and what comes next

NVIDIA shares fell sharply after the news, dropping as much as about 13 to 14 per cent at the open before paring some of those losses, according to market reports. The company will report its third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on 17 November 2026, as previously scheduled, followed by an earnings call the same afternoon.

Why it matters for India

NVIDIA sits at the centre of India’s AI infrastructure build-out. That includes Yotta’s planned $2 billion Blackwell Ultra supercluster and DGX Cloud deployment, gigawatt-scale data centre plans with Larsen & Toubro announced at the India AI Impact Summit, and enterprise platforms such as TCS’s Rapid Outcome AI collaboration. Huang had personally described India as among the world’s most important AI markets.

For CIOs, GPU cloud providers and policymakers, the immediate question is continuity of supply, product roadmaps and those partnerships. The board’s assurance that customer commitments will continue “without interruption” will be watched closely, including on the 17 November earnings call. The leadership change also comes as NVIDIA deepens ties with large customers, including a recent $3 billion investment alongside an expanded AI-agents partnership with Meta.

Key takeaways

• Jensen Huang has resigned as NVIDIA’s president, CEO and board member, effective immediately.
• CFO Colette Kress is interim CEO and will continue as chief financial officer.
• Harvey C. Jones has been appointed NVIDIA’s first-ever chair of the board.
• The board said operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap are expected to continue without interruption.
• Third-quarter fiscal 2027 results are due on 17 November 2026, and a search for a permanent CEO is under way.

Featured image: Jensen Huang at Stanford University on 30 April 2026. Photo: Anderseidesvik, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Be a part of Elets Collaborative Initiatives. Join Us for Upcoming Events and explore business opportunities. Like us on Facebook , connect with us on LinkedIn and follow us on Twitter.

"Exciting news! Elets technomedia is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest insights!" Click here!