Key facts
- Nvidia's board said Huang resigned as president, chief executive officer and board member, effective immediately.
- The board named Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress interim chief executive while it searches for a permanent replacement.
- The board's statement did not mention Huang's conduct and thanked him for his contributions to the company and the industry.
- The board said it will consider internal and external candidates for a permanent chief executive.
Nvidia said on Thursday, November 12, 2026, that Jensen Huang had resigned as president, chief executive officer and a member of the board with immediate effect. The board named Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress interim chief executive and said it will consider internal and external candidates for a permanent replacement.
The board's statement did not mention Huang's conduct, according to Wired. It thanked him for his "immeasurable contributions to the company and the industry," the report said.
Wired reported that the board's investigation was announced on November 8, 2026, and that Huang sent a companywide email on the Sunday before his resignation acknowledging an affair, apologizing to his family and Nvidia employees and pledging to cooperate with the investigation. The New York Times reported that Huang stepped down after the board began an inquiry into allegations of extramarital affairs, including with a woman it said U.S. intelligence agencies had concluded was spying for China.
China has rejected the espionage claims, the New York Times reported. The newspaper also reported that U.S. officials suspect Megaspeed, a Singaporean company where the woman was a top executive, of helping to smuggle restricted chips into China, and that China called the smuggling allegations "smears."