Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia chief executive officer with immediate effect on Thursday, November 12, amid allegations concerning personal relationships and possible China-linked security concerns.
Nvidia's board named executive vice-president and chief financial officer Colette Kress as interim CEO. Kress will continue as CFO. Long-serving board member Harvey C. Jones was appointed the company's first board chairperson. The board began a search for a permanent CEO from among internal and external candidates.
The controversy centred on allegations that Huang had an extramarital relationship with Alice Huang, a senior official at Singapore-based data infrastructure company Megaspeed. US intelligence agencies were said to suspect Alice Huang of links to Chinese intelligence networks, though the allegations had not been proven.
In a message to employees on November 8, Huang admitted to an extramarital relationship and expressed regret. “There is no excuse for what I did,” he said. He was also alleged to have had relationships with Nvidia healthcare vice-president Kimberly Powell and another employee.
The board engaged law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz for an independent investigation. Former US attorney Joon H. Kim was involved in the process. The board had earlier said it had no reason to believe that confidential company information or national security-related information had been misused.
Nvidia shares fell as much as 14.3 per cent during Thursday's trading before closing 4.3 per cent lower at USD 166.19. The share price was about 30.5 per cent below its October 6 peak. Nvidia said it would announce its third-quarter results for fiscal 2027 on November 17.
