Nvidia’s board of directors has announced significant leadership changes, following the immediate resignation of Jensen Huang as president, CEO, and board member.
The exit of Huang, who co-founded Nvidia in 1993, followed reports of his alleged affair with a suspected Chinese spy. The news triggered national security concerns and briefly wiped as much as $600bn off Nvidia’s valuation during early trading on Thursday.
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Nvidia has named executive vice president (EVP) and chief financial officer (CFO) Colette Kress as interim CEO.
Kress will continue to fulfil her current responsibilities as EVP and CFO while leading the company on a temporary basis.
The board has commenced a formal search for a permanent CEO and will consider both internal and external candidates.
Kress has been with Nvidia since September 2013, overseeing the company’s finance organisation during a period of considerable expansion.
Before joining Nvidia, she worked for nearly 25 years in a range of finance positions at major technology companies, including Microsoft and Cisco.
Kress said: “Nvidia’s strength has always come from its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years.
“We will continue advancing the work that has made Nvidia a leader in accelerated computing and AI, and execute on the opportunities ahead. Our focus remains on serving our customers, partners, developers and shareholders.”
In addition to the CEO transition, the board has appointed Harvey Jones as the first chair of the board in Nvidia’s history.
Jones has experience as a technology executive, entrepreneur, and venture investor spanning over three decades.
His previous roles include serving as CEO and executive chairman of Synopsys.
Jones said: “Colette has helped lead Nvidia through a period of extraordinary growth and has a deep understanding of our business, customers, operations and financial position.
“She is supported by an experienced leadership team that has been instrumental in executing Nvidia’s strategy and advancing its technology roadmap.
“The board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team, and we expect the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption.”
Earlier this month, Microsoft and Nvidia introduced Frontier Launchpad, a support programme aimed at software companies in the UK and Ireland with a focus on AI.
