Business · Nvidia CEO exitJensen Huang resigns Nvidia CEO role after 33 years; Colette Kress steps inAired November 12, 2026 at 6:15 PM UTCWatchTranscript0:00Jensen Huang resigns NVIDIA's CEO role after33 years.0:03Colette Crest steps in.0:07Jensen Huang has resigned as NVIDIA's chief executive, effective immediately,0:11after33 years running it.0:12He co-founded NVIDIA in1993 and built it into the world's most valuable chipmaker,0:18the main supplier of the hardware behind the AI boom.0:20On Thursday, its stock opened about thirteen percent lower, and the company is now0:24run by its finance chief.0:25On November10 , we reported that NVIDIA's board had opened an independent0:29investigation into reports Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort.0:33A company spokesperson said then that he'd stay on as CEO without interruption.0:37He didn't last the week.0:39NVIDIA hasn't said why he's gone, and the board's investigation into whether he was0:42targeted by a foreign spy hasn't published a single finding.0:45The board announced it Thursday morning before trading opened in New York.0:49Huang gave up his titles as president and chief executive, and his seat on the0:52board.0:53A company gave no reason, and it disclosed nothing about Severance, his shares, or0:57any continuing role.0:58NVIDIA's filing with regulators dates the change to Wednesday, the day before the1:02announcement.1:02Two people familiar with the matter said that night the board had been preparing to1:06oust him.1:06NVIDIA calls it a resignation, and nobody has said whether he jumped or was pushed.1:11Chief Financial Officer Colette Cress has agreed to serve as interim CEO, and she1:15keeps the finance job.1:16She joined NVIDIA in two thousand and thirteen after nearly twenty-five years at1:20Cisco and Microsoft.1:21Harvey Jones, a former Synopsys chief executive, becomes the company's first ever1:26board chair.1:26Until Thursday, a company worth roughly four trillion dollars had an eleven-member1:31board with no chair, and its founder sat on it while running the company.1:34Jones says the board has full confidence in Cress and expects the product roadmap to1:39continue without interruption.1:40The search for a permanent chief will look inside and outside NVIDIA with no1:44timetable.1:45On Sunday, Huang admitted to employees that he'd been unfaithful to his wife, and1:49the board opened its investigation.1:51On Monday, shareholders sued in California, saying NVIDIA and Huang kept information1:55from investors.1:56On Wednesday, a second relationship came to light.1:59And the board reportedly prepared to remove him.2:02On Thursday, he resigned.2:04The woman in the first affair is Alice Huang, no relation.2:07U.S.2:08intelligence officials suspect she was gathering information for China's Ministry of2:11State Security.2:12She's a former executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore company that bought more than2:16four point eight billion dollars of NVIDIA products over two years.2:20U.S.2:20authorities are now examining whether the relationship gave Beijing access to2:24advanced AI chips banned from export to China.2:26All of this is still allegation.2:28No public finding shows that any information or chips were passed.2:32China's foreign ministry calls the spy claims a fabrication, and Megaspeed denies2:36wrongdoing.2:37On Wednesday, five current or former employees said Huang had a relationship with2:40Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare, who reports directly to him.2:45Two of them say an encounter at the company's March Developer Conference was filmed,2:48though nobody has verified that video.2:50Nvidia and Powell didn't comment, and nothing links Powell to the spying suspicion.2:55We'll keep following who runs NVIDIA next and what the board's investigators find.2:58Subscribe to this channel and follow the story at heyday dot news.3:02NVIDIA's stock has lost about twenty-seven percent in a month.3:05It closed at two hundred twenty six dollars on October twelfth.3:08Between November three and November five, it fell from about two hundred and seven3:12dollars to under one hundred and eighty two as the espionage reporting and pressure3:16from Congress built.3:17By early Thursday afternoon, it was at one hundred sixty five dollars and thirty3:20five cents, its lowest in a month.3:22Thursday morning was rougher.3:24Before the open, the drop ranged from about eight percent to more than thirteen,3:28depending on when you looked.3:29The stock opened roughly thirteen percent down, narrowed to about eleven within the3:33first hour, and by midday sat just under five percent below Wednesday's close.3:37Estimates of the value loss run from more than five hundred billion dollars at the3:41opening bell to well over six hundred billion since Sunday, to a potential seven3:45hundred billion or more.3:46They measure different windows.3:48NVIDIA is still worth about four point two trillion dollars.3:51Other AI stocks sold off with it.3:53NVIDIA backed Core Weave dropped fourteen percent, and the SP five hundred Nasdaq3:57fell at the open By late morning, the broader market had turned higher, while NVIDIA4:01stayed down.4:02Bernstein downgraded the stock, saying, We've had enough.4:04Oppenheimer downgraded it too, and other brokerages cut their price targets.4:08The shock reached Taiwan, home to the chipmakers that build NVIDIA's processors.4:13Taiwan's index futures fell seven hundred fifty-seven points in the night session as4:17the news hit to forty-two three hundred seventy-one.4:19By late evening, they'd climbed nine hundred and eighty two points off that low, to4:23stand two hundred and twenty-five points higher on the day.4:25Huang's own fortune is still tied up in the company.4:28He still holds more than three point five percent of NVIDIA, about eight hundred and4:32seventy million shares, worth roughly one hundred and fifty billion dollars at4:35Thursday morning's prices.4:37So the man whose private conduct just erased hundreds of billions in value remains4:41one of its biggest shareholders.4:43Those losses land in pension funds, index funds, and retirement accounts, which hold4:47NVIDIA as one of the market's heaviest weights.4:50Huang was also NVIDIA's chief lobbyist on US chip export rules, and last year he4:55persuaded the Trump administration to ease some curbs on China.4:58NVIDIA supplies an estimated eighty to ninety percent of top-end AI chips.5:02On Thursday, Beijing accused Washington of using the spying claims as a pretext for5:07a technological blockade.5:09Chinese AI firms are reportedly trying to rent NVIDIA, powered computing and data5:13centers outside China.5:15The dispute is expected to come up next week in Shenzhen, where Trump is due to meet5:18Xi Jinping at AIPEC.5:20Trump, who'd publicly backed Huang, hadn't commented by Thursday morning.5:24Several members of Congress are calling for investigations.5:27NVIDIA reports quarterly results Tuesday, November17 , with an earnings call that5:32afternoon, the first under an interim chief who's still the CFO.5:35Cress has also called a company wide meeting for the next morning.5:38In an early report, nobody has confirmed.5:41That same Wednesday, House Chairs Brian Mast, John Molinar, and Rick Crawford had5:45asked Huang for a closed door briefing.5:47He no longer speaks for NVIDIA.5:48NVIDIA still hasn't said why Huang left.5:51The board's investigation, led by former acting U.S.5:54Attorney June Kim and the law firm Wachtel Lipton, has published no findings, and5:58NVIDIA hasn't said whether it's still going.6:00Nobody knows yet whether any company or national security information reached Alice6:04Huang, and the search for a permanent chief executive has no deadline.Story timelineHeyDexWho reported whatPoints more than one outlet reported✓Nvidia’s independent investigation into intelligence targetingIndependently confirmed · 15 outletsHuang’s reported admission of extramarital relationships11 outletsIntelligence claims about Alice Huang’s alleged role10 outletsNvidia's board said a committee of independent directors, assisted by outside independent counsel, …9 outlets✓Jensen Huang’s departure as Nvidia CEOIndependently confirmed · 6 outletsLawmakers’ requests for Huang to testify6 outlets✓Whether sensitive information was compromisedIndependently confirmed · 6 outletsReported relationship between Huang and Kimberly Powell5 outletsMegaspeed, an Nvidia customer, has come under scrutiny over suspicions it helped Chinese companies …5 outletsNvidia share-price declines4 outletsReports of Nvidia considering Huang’s departure3 outletsEach line is the claim as we recorded it from that outlet's report. Compared as of November 13, 2026 at 8:03 AM UTC.Related coverageFollow-up·Nov 10, 2:42 AM UTCNvidia and Huang face investor suit—but the stock slide came first
