Key Highlights

  • Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) announced on Thursday, November 12, 2026 that Jensen Huang had resigned as president, chief executive officer and board member, effective immediately, four days after directors said they retained confidence in him.
  • CFO Colette Kress is interim chief executive while remaining chief financial officer, and director Harvey Jones becomes the first independent chair in company history.
  • The board has started a search for a permanent chief executive that will consider internal and external candidates, and the company confirmed that results are still due on November 17.
  • The shares closed at USD 173.73 on Wednesday, up 2.87%, then traded roughly 10% to 11% lower in premarket trading on Thursday.

Four Days From Confidence to Exit

The sequence began on Sunday, November 8, when Huang told staff he had been unfaithful to his wife and the board opened an independent review of reports that he had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. At that point directors said they retained confidence in him and saw no reason to believe national security or company secrets had been compromised. On Tuesday the independent directors retained former acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon H. Kim and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen and Katz, while a Shareholder lawsuit, a comment from President Trump that the FBI was looking into the matter and a senator's call for resignation added pressure. On Wednesday evening reports said the board was preparing to remove him and a second alleged relationship, with a senior Nvidia executive, entered the public record. Within hours the company announced the resignation. Nvidia has not published a reason, and the allegations about his conduct are reported and have not been confirmed by the company. No charge or official finding has been reported.

What the Company Announced

The company said Huang resigned as president, chief executive officer and a member of the board, effective immediately, and thanked him for his immeasurable contributions. Colette Kress, who joined in September 2013 and spent nearly 25 years in finance roles at leading technology companies before that, will serve as interim chief executive and keep her chief financial officer duties until a permanent successor is named. Harvey Jones, a technology executive and venture investor for more than 30 years who previously led Synopsys, was appointed as the first chair of the board, a role that did not exist while Huang led the company. Jones said the board has full confidence in Kress. The announcement also addressed the calendar: Nvidia will report third quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday, November 17, as previously scheduled.

How Investors Are Reacting

Huang co-founded the company in 1993, owned about 3.6% of the stock and had around 60 direct reports, so the market treated the exit as a key person event. The shares had already fallen more than 25% from their October 6 record close of USD 239.24, and the two-day slide on November 9 and 10 erased more than USD 430 billion of Market Value before Wednesday's rebound. The premarket move on Thursday pushed the stock toward USD 155 to USD 157, which would put it well over 30% below its peak. Fundamentals have not changed: the company guided third quarter Revenue of USD 108 billion, plus or minus 2%, and CoreWeave raised its own outlook this week. Investors now need to judge whether customer relationships, the product roadmap and export policy talks stay on track under an interim structure. The first full test arrives on November 17, when Kress is expected to lead the results discussion and take questions on Leadership and continuity.

Where Things Stand

Huang is out as chief executive and director, Kress and Jones now lead the company and the permanent search is open. The next fixed catalyst is the November 17 Earnings report, followed by any announcement on a permanent successor. Investors will also watch for further official comment on the independent review and for any response from lawmakers who had asked Huang to brief them behind closed doors.