Quick answer
The NVIDIA new CEO is Colette Kress, the company's chief financial officer, who became interim chief executive after the board accepted Jensen Huang's resignation on 11 November 2026. NVIDIA announced it on 12 November without giving a reason; it followed a board investigation and media reports about his personal conduct. A search for a permanent CEO is under way.
Key takeaways
- Colette Kress, NVIDIA's CFO since 2013, is interim CEO and keeps her CFO job; Harvey C. Jones became the board's first-ever chair.
- NVIDIA has not given a reason for the resignation; the reasons in circulation come from news reports, and the board's independent investigation is still running.
- NVIDIA shares closed 4.3% lower at $166.19 on 12 November after falling as much as 14% to 16% during the day, depending on the outlet.
- For Pakistani businesses and developers nothing changes overnight: drivers, CUDA, cloud GPUs and hardware supply run on plans made years ahead.
- Big NVIDIA news brings fake investment ads and deepfake videos of executives; check every claim on NVIDIA's own pages and SECP before you send money.
Who is the NVIDIA new CEO?
The NVIDIA new CEO is Colette Kress, the company's chief financial officer (CFO), who is now serving as interim chief executive while the board searches for a permanent leader. "Interim" means temporary: she runs the company until a permanent CEO is appointed. NVIDIA's board accepted Jensen Huang's resignation as president, CEO and board member on 11 November 2026, effective immediately, and the company announced the change on Thursday 12 November.
NVIDIA has not given a reason for the resignation. NBC News and CBS News reported that Huang stepped down after reports of extramarital relationships, including one with a business executive whom US officials reportedly believed was working for Chinese intelligence; China has denied the allegations, NBC News reported.
This article sticks to what NVIDIA has said in its press releases and its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), plus what major news organisations have reported, and it focuses on what the change means for business. Facts were checked as of 15 November 2026. The story is still moving, so check the dates on anything you read.
Not investment advice
This article explains what is happening and how things work. It is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Prices move fast; check live data and speak to a licensed adviser before investing.
Why did Jensen Huang resign?
Officially, NVIDIA has not said why. Its 12 November press release only says that Huang "has resigned" and thanks him for his contributions. Everything else about the reasons comes from news reports, so it helps to separate three kinds of information.
What NVIDIA itself has confirmed
- An investigation. On Sunday 8 November the board said it was opening an independent investigation "in light of recent reporting" that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. A committee of independent directors, helped by outside counsel, oversees it.
- No known breach, so far. The board said it had "no reason to believe" that national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised, but that its inquiry would examine all available information.
- Who runs the probe. On 10 November the independent board members said they had hired Joon H. Kim, a former acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
- The resignation. The board accepted it on 11 November and appointed Kress as interim CEO and Harvey C. Jones as chair, according to NVIDIA's SEC filing.
What news organisations have reported
The New York Times and the Financial Times first reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that US officials believed Huang had been targeted by Chinese intelligence through a personal relationship, as NBC News summarised. NBC News also reported that the board met on the night of Wednesday 11 November to decide Huang's future. None of these reported details appears in NVIDIA's own statements.
What has been denied
China called the allegations unsubstantiated and aimed at smearing China, NBC News reported. NVIDIA's board has said it has no reason to believe secrets were compromised.
Search interest in the "NVIDIA scandal" is high, and social media is full of claims that go far beyond the reporting. If a post adds names, numbers or "leaked" details that no major outlet or NVIDIA filing carries, treat it as unverified.
Jensen Huang resigned: what happened, day by day?
In short: a board investigation opened on 8 November, the board accepted Huang's resignation on 11 November, and NVIDIA announced it on 12 November. Here is the dated sequence, with the source for each line.
| Date (2026) | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Late October to early November | The New York Times and the Financial Times report that US officials believed Huang had been targeted by Chinese intelligence. | NBC News summary |
| Sun 8 Nov | Board opens an independent investigation; says Huang supports the review and that it has confidence in him. | NVIDIA statement |
| Tue 10 Nov | Independent directors name Joon H. Kim and Wachtell Lipton to lead the investigation. | NVIDIA statement |
| Wed 11 Nov | Board meets that night and accepts Huang's resignation, effective immediately; Kress appointed interim CEO, Jones appointed chair. | SEC Form 8-K; NBC News |
| Thu 12 Nov | NVIDIA announces the CEO transition and files the 8-K. Shares fall sharply in the morning and close 4.3% lower. | NVIDIA; CBS News/AP |
| Fri 13 Nov | Board says it is choosing a search firm and has not formally engaged any candidates. NBC News reports the investigation will continue. Shares fall another 2.01%. | CNBC; NBC News |
| Tue 17 Nov | Third-quarter fiscal 2027 results at about 1:20 p.m. Pacific time, call at 2:00 p.m. Pacific (3:00 a.m. Wednesday in Pakistan). | NVIDIA |
Why do some sites say 11 November and others 12 November?
Both are right about different things. NVIDIA's Form 8-K (the "current report" US-listed companies must file within days of a major event) says the board accepted the resignation on 11 November. The press release and the filing went public on 12 November. A few outlets also dated the board's first statement to Monday 9 November, but NVIDIA's own page is dated Sunday 8 November. This article uses NVIDIA's dates.
Who is Colette Kress?
Colette Kress is NVIDIA's executive vice president and CFO, a job she has held since September 2013, and she is now also interim CEO. She is a finance executive rather than an engineer or product founder, which is why analysts are watching how the board fills the permanent role.
Her career, according to NVIDIA's official biography and the 8-K:
- NVIDIA (2013 to now): EVP and CFO; she leads the finance organisation and writes the "CFO commentary" published with every quarterly result.
- Cisco: three years as senior vice president and CFO of Cisco's Business Technology and Operations Finance organisation.
- Microsoft: 13 years, including four as CFO of the Server and Tools division.
- Texas Instruments: a range of finance positions earlier in her career.
- Education: B.Sc. in finance from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.
- Age: 59, according to the 8-K.
Investors already know her voice. On NVIDIA's August 2026 earnings call she said the company expected 70% revenue growth in fiscal 2028, CNBC reported. In NVIDIA's announcement she said the company's strength "has always come from its people" and that the focus stays on customers, partners, developers and shareholders.
The other new name is Harvey C. Jones, 73, an NVIDIA director since 1993 and managing partner of Square Wave Ventures, a private family office. He was previously CEO and executive chairman of Synopsys, a chip-design software company. NVIDIA had never had a separate board chair before.
What has NVIDIA's board said, and what is still unknown?
The board has said who is in charge, that the business should run without interruption and that a CEO search has started. It has not said what its investigation found, when it will finish or who the next permanent CEO will be.
What the board has said
- Kress is interim CEO and stays CFO "until a permanent successor has been named". The board will consider internal and external candidates.
- Jones said the board expects "operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption."
- On 13 November the board told CNBC: "We are in the process of selecting a search firm for the Nvidia CEO role," and that it had "not formally engaged any potential candidates."
- An NVIDIA spokesperson said Huang "will not be working with Nvidia in any capacity going forward," NBC News reported.
What is still unknown (as of 15 November 2026)
- The investigation's findings. NBC News reported that the independent directors will keep investigating despite the resignation. No timeline has been given.
- The permanent CEO. The Financial Times reported that the board approached Arm CEO Rene Haas, a former NVIDIA executive, CNBC noted. The board called any speculation about candidates "premature". Treat names in headlines as rumours until NVIDIA files an announcement.
- Washington's next steps. CNBC reported that three House committees asked Huang to appear for briefings and renewed the request after he resigned, and that the Senate Banking Committee asked Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify about national-security concerns and reports that advanced NVIDIA chips reached China. NVIDIA has said it follows US export laws, NBC News reported.
- Strategy changes. Nobody outside the company knows yet whether a new leader will change NVIDIA's investments, partnerships or pricing.
NVIDIA stock drop: how did the market react?
NVIDIA shares fell hard on the morning of 12 November, recovered most of the drop and closed 4.3% lower, then slipped another 2.01% on 13 November. Over the full week the company lost roughly $585 billion in market value, NBC News reported. Market value (or "market cap") is the share price multiplied by the number of shares.
| Date (US trading day) | Move | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Thu 12 Nov, intraday | Down as much as 14% to 16%, depending on the outlet (CNBC: 14%; CBS/AP: 14.3%; NBC: 16%) | CNBC, CBS News, NBC News |
| Thu 12 Nov, close | Down $7.54 (4.3%) to $166.19 | CBS News/AP |
| Week to Thu 12 Nov | Almost $500 billion of value lost since the previous week's close | CBS News |
| Fri 13 Nov, close | Down 2.01%; market value below $4 trillion for the first time since July 2025 | CNBC |
| Week to Fri 13 Nov | Down 12.75%, the sixth straight weekly fall and the longest losing streak since 2012 | CNBC |
| Early October to 13 Nov | About $1.7 trillion of market value lost since the slide began | CNBC |
Two points matter for reading these numbers. First, the stock was already falling before the CEO news: CNBC reported it had dropped more than 20% in the month before the resignation. Second, the closing figures are calmer than the intraday ones, which shows how quickly sentiment swung on the day.
Analysts quoted by major outlets disagree on how much the departure matters. D.A. Davidson's Gil Luria told CNBC he expects "a challenging transition" over the next few months. Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya told CBS News that customers buy NVIDIA's computing power, software and networking ecosystem, and those advantages do not disappear with the CEO. These are their views, not ours, and none of this is a reason to buy or sell.
What does the CEO change mean for customers, partners and the AI chip market?
In the short term, very little changes for customers: chips, systems and software are designed and booked far in advance. The open questions are about the next round of big deals and NVIDIA's lead over rivals over the next few years.
- Existing orders. StoneX analyst Cody Acree told CBS News that everything is "already designed, planned, booked, and scheduled for production and delivery well into 2028."
- Future deals. William Blair's Sebastien Naji told CBS News that existing contracts will survive a CEO change, but the next round of deals is at risk, because Huang personally drove large financing and supply agreements.
- Competitors. CBS News described NVIDIA as controlling roughly 90% of the market for the GPUs (graphics processing units, the chips that train and run most AI models). Analysts quoted there said AMD and Broadcom could gain ground over time, while Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives said NVIDIA is "roughly 2-3 years ahead" of its nearest rival.
- Product roadmap. The board says the roadmap continues without interruption. NVIDIA said in August that its next platform, Vera Rubin, was ramping into full production. Our guide to the 17 November earnings explains what to look for.
What it means for the 17 November earnings
NVIDIA kept its results date "as previously scheduled": figures at about 1:20 p.m. Pacific time on Tuesday 17 November, and the call at 2:00 p.m. Pacific, which is 3:00 a.m. Wednesday 18 November in Pakistan. It will be the first report with Kress as interim CEO. NVIDIA's own forecast from August was revenue of $108 billion, plus or minus 2%. Expect analysts to ask about leadership, the investigation, China and whether any customer has delayed orders.
What does NVIDIA's new CEO mean for Pakistani businesses and developers?
Nothing changes overnight. If you buy NVIDIA graphics cards in Pakistan, rent cloud GPUs, or write code for CUDA (NVIDIA's software platform for programming its GPUs), the products, drivers and support you use run on plans made years ahead, and the board says the roadmap continues without interruption.
| If you... | What changes now | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Buy GeForce or RTX cards and workstations from Pakistani shops | Nothing from the CEO change. Local prices depend on the rupee, import costs and the global memory shortage. NVIDIA itself said in August that PC sales were held back by "elevated memory and systems prices". | Our RAM and GPU price guide for Pakistan |
| Rent cloud GPUs (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and others) | Nothing. Your contract is with the cloud provider. | Provider pricing and region availability; foreign-currency card charges and advance tax on your bill |
| Write CUDA code or train models in a software house or university lab | Nothing. CUDA, drivers and libraries keep shipping. | NVIDIA developer release notes; keep code portable through frameworks such as PyTorch |
| Build AI features on APIs (chatbots, search, document tools) | Nothing direct. | API price changes if GPU supply or pricing shifts later |
| Hold or are thinking about NVIDIA shares | Higher volatility (bigger, faster price swings). | Our explainer on how to buy NVIDIA stock in Pakistan, including SBP rules and risks |
What a Pakistani business should do this month
- Do not panic-buy hardware. A CEO change does not cut supply tomorrow. If you need GPUs, buy on your project timeline, from a seller who gives a proper invoice and warranty.
- Avoid single-vendor lock-in. If your AI product depends on one chip vendor or one cloud, write down what you would do if prices rose 30%. Using standard frameworks and containers keeps your options open.
- Budget in dollars. Cloud GPU bills are charged in USD, so the rupee rate moves your cost more than any boardroom change.
- Watch three dates: the 17 November results (18 November in Pakistan), any announcement of a permanent CEO, and any statement on the investigation's findings.
How to read NVIDIA news without falling for scams
Big news about a famous company is a gift to scammers. Expect fake "NVIDIA investment" schemes, AI-made deepfake videos of executives promising returns, and WhatsApp groups selling "insider tips". Use these steps every time.
- Go to the source. Open nvidianews.nvidia.com or investor.nvidia.com by typing the address yourself. For legal facts, search NVIDIA's filings on SEC EDGAR. Done looks like: the claim appears in an official release or filing. Common mistake: trusting a screenshot of a "press release" shared on WhatsApp.
- Assume executive videos about money are fake. NVIDIA does not run investment plans for the public. A video of Kress, Huang or any NVIDIA executive promising daily profits, crypto rewards or "shares at a discount" is a deepfake or a scam. Check for odd lip-sync, a voice that does not match, and links to unknown sites.
- Check the platform is allowed in Pakistan. Before you send money to any "trading app", check whether it is licensed by the SECP (which says the lists of licensed brokers are on the PSX and PMEX websites) and whether the route follows State Bank of Pakistan rules for investing abroad. Our NVIDIA stock guide for Pakistan explains the legal routes.
- Leave WhatsApp "stock tips" groups. The SECP said in a November 2025 warning that AI-generated ads using images of celebrities, "FinFluencers" and brokerage executives were pushing people into WhatsApp groups, and that such groups are illegal and risky.
- Never pay into personal accounts or crypto wallets. A real broker never asks you to send money to an individual's JazzCash, Easypaisa or bank account, or to a crypto address, to "unlock" profits.
- Report and warn others. Report fake ads on the platform, report fraud to the NCCIA, and call your bank at once if money has moved. Our guide to AI scams and deepfakes in Pakistan has the full recovery steps.
How Digitt Hype can help
If your business uses AI, a leadership change at a chip maker is a good moment to check how dependent you are on one vendor. Our AI Integrations team helps Pakistani companies choose between cloud AI APIs, rented GPUs and their own hardware, and build tools that can move between providers. Talk to us if you want a second opinion on your setup.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the new CEO of NVIDIA?
Colette Kress is NVIDIA's interim CEO. She has been the company's executive vice president and chief financial officer since September 2013 and keeps that job while serving as interim CEO. The board accepted Jensen Huang's resignation on 11 November 2026 and announced the change on 12 November. A permanent CEO has not been named as of 15 November 2026.
Why did Jensen Huang resign from NVIDIA?
NVIDIA has not given a reason. The resignation came after the board opened an independent investigation into reports that Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort. NBC News and CBS News reported that he stepped down after reports of extramarital relationships, including one with an executive US officials reportedly believed was working for China. China has denied the allegations.
Is Jensen Huang still working at NVIDIA?
No. He resigned as president, CEO and board member, effective immediately, according to NVIDIA's Form 8-K. An NVIDIA spokesperson said he will not be working with the company in any capacity going forward, NBC News reported. NBC News also reported that the board's independent investigation will continue despite his departure.
How much did NVIDIA stock drop after Jensen Huang resigned?
On 12 November 2026 NVIDIA shares fell as much as 14% to 16% during the day, depending on the outlet, then closed 4.3% lower at $166.19, CBS News and AP reported. They fell another 2.01% on 13 November, and NBC News said the company lost about $585 billion in market value that week.
Will NVIDIA GPUs, drivers or CUDA stop working in Pakistan?
No. A change of CEO does not switch off products. The board said operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap should continue without interruption. Drivers, CUDA and cloud GPU services keep running. Local GPU prices depend far more on the rupee, import costs and the global memory shortage than on the boardroom.
When will NVIDIA name a permanent CEO?
There is no date. On 13 November 2026 the board said it was selecting a search firm, had not formally engaged any candidates and called speculation about names premature. The board will consider internal and external candidates. Treat any named successor in headlines as a rumour until NVIDIA publishes an announcement.
Sources 10
- NVIDIA Newsroom: NVIDIA Announces CEO Transition (12 Nov 2026)
- SEC EDGAR: NVIDIA Form 8-K, Item 5.02 (filed 12 Nov 2026)
- NVIDIA Investor Relations: Statement from NVIDIA Board of Directors (8 Nov 2026)
- NVIDIA Newsroom: Statement From the Independent Members of the NVIDIA Board (10 Nov 2026)
- NVIDIA Newsroom: Colette Kress executive biography
- NBC News: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns (12 Nov 2026)
- CBS News: Nvidia sheds nearly $500 billion in value as Jensen Huang resigns (12 Nov 2026)
- CBS News: Jensen Huang's exit and rival companies (13 Nov 2026)
- CNBC: Nvidia hasn't selected search firm for permanent Huang replacement (13 Nov 2026)
- SECP press release: warning on illegal trading app and AI-generated ads (Nov 2025)
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