Jensen Huang Resigns as Nvidia CEO; Shares Fall 9% Premarket
Jensen Huang has resigned as Nvidia's CEO. In a statement released at 8:48 a.m. ET (4:48 p.m. in Istanbul), the company said he left his roles as CEO, President and board member, effective immediately. This is the new development: the internal probe that began on Sunday has now become a leadership change.
CFO Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO until a permanent successor is named, while keeping the CFO role. Harvey C. Jones, former CEO of Synopsys, becomes the company's first-ever board Chair. The board is searching among internal and external candidates; no timeline was given.
Two reports sped up the decision. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday evening that the board was preparing to oust Huang. The New York Times reported a second relationship, with a senior Nvidia executive.
The stock closed Wednesday at $173.73 and is trading around $158 premarket, down roughly 9%, a loss of about $380B in market value. Nvidia is about 7% of the S&P 500, so it alone takes close to 0.6 percentage points off the index. The market is pricing this not as a governance story, but as the AI cycle losing its face.
Chair Jones said operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap should continue without interruption. The first test is close: reports third-quarter earnings after the close on Tuesday, November 17.
