Jensen Huang resigns as Nvidia president and chief executive officer

This is a new development in a story we reported earlier: Nvidia's board Opens independent investigation into Jensen Huang.

According to a statement from Nvidia’s board of directors, Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia president, chief executive officer, and board member effective immediately on Nov. 12, 2026. Colette Kress, Nvidia’s chief financial officer, will serve as interim chief executive officer while the board weighs internal and external candidates for a permanent replacement.

The resignation is a new development in the investigation Nvidia’s board opened into Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang. The board appointed Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct a thorough and independent investigation into Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang. The firm directed Huang to continue leading Nvidia while the investigation was ongoing, and the board met late on Wednesday to decide Huang’s fate after further reports emerged.

On Sunday, Jensen Huang admitted to an affair and apologized to his family and Nvidia employees.

US intelligence services suspect Alice Huang, a businesswoman who runs a Singapore-based datacentre firm, of being a Chinese asset, and one reported affair involved her; she is not related to Jensen Huang. US intelligence services have identified Alice Huang as a Chinese spy, but Chinese officials reject the espionage claims.

Chinese officials deny that Alice Huang was a spy. Jensen Huang has denied knowing that she allegedly worked for the Chinese government, and the two dined and attended meetings over the past few years. A former editor of the Global Times called the espionage claims a calculated move by the Democratic Party and US establishment.

Nvidia’s board said it sees no reason to believe that Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang compromised Nvidia trade secrets or national security. After Huang’s resignation, Nvidia shares fell 13%. The decline built on a drop of about 25% from their October peak, and the company lost approximately $1.8 trillion in market capitalization in the last month. Market capitalization is the total value of a company’s outstanding shares.

A second reported affair involved Kimberly Powell, a 48-year-old Nvidia healthcare executive who reported directly to Huang. The New York Times reported this on November 11 and described a hotel conference video from March.

On Thursday, Nvidia’s stock slid about 7% in pre-market trading after the Wall Street Journal reported that the board was readying Huang’s ouster. Pre-market trading occurs before regular market hours.

In early trading on November 12, 2026, Nvidia stock plunged more than 12%. Yahoo Finance says the early trading plunge reflects reports of Huang’s affairs.

Harvey C. Jones became Nvidia’s first-ever board chair, having served as chief executive and executive chair of Synopsys. Jones said the board has full confidence in Colette Kress and the leadership team.

According to Bloomberg, Huang is the world’s 13th richest person, worth $145bn, and he owns more than 870m shares, about 3.6% of Nvidia. Donald Trump said Jensen Huang had done an incredible job and is an honorable guy, and he backed Huang. Elon Musk also supported Huang. Despite the public backing, Nvidia’s stock has tumbled with the news.

With actual hard revenues of about $400bn this year, Nvidia is one of the most valuable companies on Earth, with a market cap of more than $4tn. Nvidia’s technology grew out of repurposed games graphics and Taiwan’s manufacturing strength, and chips including Gracehopper, Vera, and Rubin power AI models.

Jensen Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, aiming to bring 3D graphics to the gaming industry. The company later released CUDA in 2006 and its first AI server, the DGX-1, in 2013.

According to Video Games Chronicle, the turbulence at Nvidia could have a knock-on effect in the gaming industry because component suppliers are more important than ever amid AI-driven shortages. Video Games Chronicle links the claim to wider industry turbulence.

Nvidia recently rolled out DLSS 5, a generative AI upscaling technology for games. DLSS 5 uses artificial intelligence to improve image quality in supported titles. Results divided players, with many mocking improvements to Resident Evil Requiem and Starfield.