Jensen Huang resigned Thursday, Nov. 12, as Nvidia's president, chief executive and board member, effective immediately1. The board named CFO Colette Kress interim CEO. An interim CEO runs a company until the board picks a permanent one. Nvidia has begun that search and will weigh internal and external candidates.
Shares fell nearly 10 percent on Thursday, which took Nvidia's value below $4 trillion3. Huang co-founded the company in 1993. The stock had already lost more than 20 percent over the past month.
What Nvidia Said, and What It Left Out
Nvidia's release states the resignation, the interim CEO and the new board chair1. Its only comment on Huang is thanks: "The Board and the company thank Jensen for his immeasurable contributions to the company and the industry." The release leaves the board's outside review unmentioned. The company filed the same news with the SEC on a Form 8-K8.
Harvey C. Jones, a former Synopsys chief executive, becomes the company's first-ever board chair1. He spoke for the board. "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," he said.
Kress made a promise of her own1. "I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years," she said. She keeps her CFO job while she serves as interim CEO.
Reuters@ReutersBREAKING: Jensen Huang has resigned as president, CEO and board member of Nvidia effective immediately https://t.co/Wmn3bqXqVq pic.twitter.com/ciBE9Wm5Gg
On Sunday, Nov. 8, Huang admitted to an affair3. The Financial Times reported that it was with an executive at the cloud company Megaspeed. American intelligence officials believe she is a spy for China. China has rejected the allegation5.
Huang apologized5. "There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry," he said. Ai Lately covered the admission and the board's review that day.
The resignation came four days after that admission. By Tuesday, Nov. 10, Nvidia's independent directors had hired an outside investigator2.
He is Joon H. Kim, a former acting top federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York. His firm is Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
On Wednesday, Nov. 11, The New York Times reported a second relationship3. The partner is a vice president who reports to Huang. That night, the board met to discuss removing him, Al Jazeera reported6.
Huang Resigns 4 Days After Admitting an Affair
Five dated events at Nvidia, Nov. 8 to Nov. 12, 2026
Each pin is a dated event; the board met the same Wednesday night that The New York Times reported a second relationship.
Sources: NVIDIA Newsroom [1]; NVIDIA Newsroom [2]; CNBC [3]; Al Jazeera [6]. Chart by Ryan Elliott Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Nov. 8, 2026 | Huang admits affair |
| Nov. 10, 2026 | Board hires outside counsel |
| Nov. 11, 2026 | NYT: second relationship |
| Nov. 11, 2026 | Board discusses removal |
| Nov. 12, 2026 | Huang resigns |
The Case That He Had to Go
North Dakota Republican Kevin Cramer called for Huang's resignation before the board acted4. He sits on the Senate Banking Committee. "This is a guy that's right now so vulnerable to extortion, blackmail," Cramer said. "I just don't think, as a national security matter, we can run the risk."
Virginia Democrat Suhas Subramanyam, a House Oversight Committee member, said it in six words4. "Jensen Huang should resign from Nvidia," he told CNBC. Nebraska Republican Don Bacon agreed. Huang "allowed himself to get compromised by the Chinese government," Bacon said.
Bernstein's Stacy Rasgon made the governance case on CNBC3. Huang's alleged affair with a direct report made it "much tougher for the board to leave him in position," Rasgon said.
Read together, their argument is about exposure. A chief executive whom a foreign government could pressure is a security risk, whatever the board's review finds. For these critics, the cost of the exit is the price of removing that risk.
The Case That Losing Him Costs More
David Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School, said Wednesday that the board had few choices7. "The Nvidia board is between a rock and a hard spot. They have almost no good options — Jensen is Nvidia," he said. "And if he has done something wrong and he needs to be removed, and they have no successors, that's a terrible outcome."
Thursday's reporting adds two more voices. Rasgon, who made the governance case above, also named the cost3. "Jensen is Nvidia, right? He is the visionary," he said. Of a replacement, he said: "I don't intuitively know who that person would be."
Richard Reyle, chief investment officer at Questar Capital Partners, put the dilemma in market terms3. Nvidia could keep Huang and face "months and months of being hauled in front of probably congressional boards," he told CNBC. Or it could "move on from him, and that's just going to make the stock uninvestable." Reyle added that the loss "doesn't make the AI trade uninvestable, but it certainly makes Nvidia uninvestable."
Rasgon's own firm priced the cost the same day. Bernstein cut its Nvidia price target by half, from $400 to $2003.
Bernstein Halves Its Nvidia Price Target to $200
Bernstein's price target for Nvidia stock, before and after its Nov. 12 cut, in dollars per share
The first column is Bernstein's target before Huang resigned; the second is the target after Bernstein cut it by half on Nov. 12.
A price target is one firm's estimate of where the stock could trade.
Source: CNBC [3]. Chart by Ryan Elliott Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Before | $400 |
| After | $200 |
President Donald Trump has weighed in6. He said Huang told him he had "absolutely no idea" that he was in a relationship with an intelligence operative. Huang owns about 3.6 percent of Nvidia's stock.
The board's reply is the interim pick. Kress spent nearly 25 years in finance roles at technology companies, including Cisco and Microsoft1. The board will consider internal and external candidates for the permanent job.
What Each Side Needs to Be True
Each case rests on one claim. The exit was worth it if the board's review or Congress finds real exposure. It cost too much if Kress and the leadership team slip with customers or on the Nov. 17 report.
Nvidia's own release promises that customer commitments continue1. The first earnings call under Kress will test that promise in public.
What to do
Customers should ask their Nvidia account contact to confirm in writing that delivery dates and prices hold. The board promised uninterrupted customer commitments1.
Investors should read the Nov. 17 call for one answer. Does Kress give a date for naming a permanent CEO? The release says only that a search has started1.
By the numbers
- Nov. 12 drop: nearly 10 percent of Nvidia's share price in one day3.
- Below $4 trillion: Nvidia's market value after that drop3.
- Past month: the stock had already lost more than 20 percent3.
- $400 to $200: Bernstein's price target before and after its Nov. 12 cut3.
- Analysts' warning: a Huang departure could cost the stock 20 percent, several told CNBC3.
- Huang's stake: about 3.6 percent of Nvidia, per Al Jazeera6.
- 33 years: the span Kress credits to Huang's foundation1.
What to watch
Nov. 17 is the first date, when Nvidia reports its third quarter as scheduled1. The board's pick between an internal and an external candidate comes next. Three House lawmakers asked Huang to testify on Nov. 18, and Congress may now keep or drop that date4. The Wachtell review, if its findings become public, would show which side had the facts.
Sources
- "NVIDIA Announces CEO Transition," NVIDIA Newsroom, Nov. 12, 2026, https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-ceo-transition
- "Statement from the Independent Members of the NVIDIA Board," NVIDIA Newsroom, Nov. 10, 2026, https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/statement-from-the-independent-members-of-the-nvidia-board
- "Nvidia stock falls nearly 10% as CEO Jensen Huang announces resignation," CNBC, Nov. 12, 2026, https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/12/nvidia-nvda-jensen-huang-second-affair.html
- "Jensen Huang affair in D.C.: Resignation calls and moves to tighten Nvidia China exports," CNBC, Nov. 11, 2026, https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/11/nvidia-jensen-huang-congress-resign-ai-chips.html
- "Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns amid investigation into relationship with alleged Chinese spy," Fox Business, Nov. 12, 2026, https://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-resigns-amid-investigation-relationship-alleged-chinese-spy
- "Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang steps down amid spy scandal and market loss," Al Jazeera, Nov. 12, 2026, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/12/ai-titan-jensen-huang-out-as-nvidia-ceo
- "Nvidia's trillion-dollar dilemma: Can it afford to lose CEO Jensen Huang?" CBS News, Nov. 11, 2026, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jensen-huang-affair-nvidia-ceo-dilemma/
- "Form 8-K: NVIDIA Announces CEO Transition," U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Nov. 12, 2026, https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001045810/000104581026000082/nvidiaannouncesceotransiti.htm
