Jensen Huang resigned, and the CFO became the interim CEO of NVIDIA. Who is Kress?
Author: jk, Odaily Planet Daily
On the evening of November 12, NVIDIA announced that co-founder Jensen Huang has resigned from his positions as president, CEO, and board member, effective immediately. The 63-year-old founder, who led the company for 33 years, ultimately stepped down after days of turmoil surrounding an extramarital affair.
The company stated in its announcement that the board has accepted his resignation. According to an 8-K filing submitted by NVIDIA to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the resignation was accepted by the board on November 11. Jensen Huang also stepped down from the board and will no longer hold any board seat.
Jensen Huang co-founded NVIDIA in 1993, transforming a graphics chip company into a core supplier of the AI wave, with the company's market value once reaching approximately $4 trillion. He currently holds about 3.6% of NVIDIA's shares, making him the fourth-largest shareholder in the company.
Personnel Arrangement: CFO Takes Over as Interim CEO
NVIDIA has appointed Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO until the board selects a permanent successor. Kress will continue to serve as executive vice president and CFO while acting as CEO.
Colette Kress
At the board level, former Synopsys CEO Harvey C. Jones, who has served as a director since 1993, has been appointed as the company's first independent board chair. Previously, NVIDIA did not have an independent board chair, with Jensen Huang serving as both CEO and holding a board seat.
The board will simultaneously search for a permanent CEO both internally and externally. Jones stated in a statement that the board has full confidence in Kress and the management team, and expects that the company's operations, customer commitments, and product roadmap will not be affected. Kress also stated in the announcement that she will continue to advance the company's work based on the foundation laid by Jensen Huang.
New CEO Background: 13 Years in Office, Net Worth of $1 Billion
Colette Kress, born in 1967 in the United States, is approximately 59 years old and has been NVIDIA's long-term executive vice president and CFO. Her appointment as interim CEO makes her the first female leader in NVIDIA's history.
Kress has a solid academic background. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Arizona and later obtained an MBA from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. These qualifications laid the foundation for her nearly thirty-year career in finance and management in the technology industry.
She began her career at Texas Instruments, where she worked for about eight years in various financial roles, gaining practical experience in the semiconductor industry. In 1997, she joined Microsoft, where she served for 13 years. During her time at Microsoft, she held senior positions in corporate planning and finance, and from 2006, she served as CFO of the Server and Tools Division. This division was responsible for the financial strategy, planning, and reporting of enterprise products such as Windows Server, SQL Server, and development tools, and Kress was deeply involved in the financial management and resource allocation of large software businesses during this time.
In 2010, Kress moved to Cisco, serving as senior vice president and CFO of the business technology and operations finance organization, responsible for financial strategy, planning, reporting, and business development across business units, engineering, and operations.
In September 2013, recruited personally by Jensen Huang, she joined NVIDIA as executive vice president and CFO. At that time, NVIDIA's annual revenue was only about $4.13 billion (fiscal year 2014), making it the smallest company in her career. She has stated that her two sons were familiar with NVIDIA due to gaming graphics cards, which influenced her decision to join. Jensen Huang painted a vision for the company's future as a supplier of AI computing infrastructure in front of a whiteboard, a strategic direction that later proved to be highly prescient.
During Kress's 13-year tenure, NVIDIA underwent a profound transformation from a gaming graphics card manufacturer to a global leader in AI and accelerated computing. The company's revenue skyrocketed from $4.13 billion in fiscal year 2014 to $215.9 billion in fiscal year 2026, an increase of about 52 times; its market value once surpassed trillions of dollars, making it one of the most valuable technology companies in the world. She and Jensen Huang frequently appeared together on quarterly earnings calls, explaining performance, outlook, and capital allocation to investors with a calm, detailed, and data-driven style, earning high trust from Wall Street. Analysts generally believe that she is not only a financial leader but also possesses a vision and influence similar to that of a chief operating officer, making her one of the most respected executives within the company.
In her specific work, Kress led the digital transformation of NVIDIA's financial system, promoting the automation and datafication of manual processes; participated in several strategic investments in other technology companies; and assisted customers in addressing data center space and other supporting needs, driving NVIDIA's deep layout in the AI ecosystem. She has publicly commented on investments related to OpenAI and demonstrated prudent financial judgment in key decisions. For example, she suggested adjustments to large-scale customer financing arrangements to balance growth with investor expectations. In July 2025, thanks to her holdings of NVIDIA stock, she became a billionaire, with a net worth of approximately $1 billion to $1.2 billion, making her one of the few technology executives to reach billionaire status due to the CFO position.
In terms of honors, she received the Annual CFO Award from Silicon Valley Business Journal in 2016; was repeatedly listed on Forbes' Most Powerful Women list and Fortune's Most Powerful Women list (ranked 49th in 2026); received the "The New Era in Business" award from the Chief organization in 2024, and was included in MarketWatch 50 as a key figure in the AI field. These recognitions reflect her core role in promoting NVIDIA's financial health and strategic expansion.
NVIDIA Stock Price Hits 5-Month Low
NVIDIA's stock price significantly declined after the resignation announcement. Following a report from The Wall Street Journal that the board was preparing to force Jensen Huang to resign, NVIDIA's after-hours trading fell over 9%; tonight, when U.S. stocks opened, NVIDIA's stock price continued to decline, briefly falling below $150, hitting a new low since June 15 of this year, and is currently down to around $160.
Dan Ives, partner and senior managing director at Yorkville Ives, stated in an investor report on Sunday that the investigation into Jensen Huang is a stain that could trigger multiple congressional inquiries, and that there is a risk of Jensen Huang being removed, which would put pressure on the stock price.
NVIDIA stated that the board has full confidence in Kress and the management team, and expects that the company's operations, customer commitments, and product roadmap will not be interrupted.
Extramarital Affair Exposed, Departing in Disgrace
Jensen Huang's departure stems from two reports of extramarital affairs.
On November 8 (Sunday), Jensen Huang sent an email to employees admitting to being unfaithful to his wife and apologized to employees, the board, and shareholders. On the same day, NVIDIA's board announced that a committee composed of independent directors, with the assistance of external independent lawyers, would conduct an investigation. The board stated that there was no reason to believe that company secrets had been leaked.
On November 11 (Wednesday), The New York Times reported that Jensen Huang had a romantic relationship with Kimberly Powell, NVIDIA's vice president of healthcare; both are married, and Powell reports to Jensen Huang. The report stated that the two were photographed engaging in intimate behavior at a hotel in San Jose, California, in March of this year.
The Wall Street Journal subsequently reported that the board was preparing to force Jensen Huang to resign. CBS cited sources saying that the Trump administration was aware of the matter. CNBC confirmed that the board held a meeting that evening to discuss whether to remove Jensen Huang, which lasted into the night. The next day, NVIDIA announced Jensen Huang's resignation.