Nvidia's board called candidate speculation "premature" on Nov. 13. The same day, the Financial Times reported that the board had already reached out to one name23. That name is Rene Haas, chief executive of Arm Holdings. Haas spent seven years at Nvidia before he left for Arm in 2013.
Arm's own stock paid for the leak. Shares fell 6.5 percent within hours, before Nvidia confirmed or denied anything4.
A Rival's Chief, on the List
Haas joined Nvidia in 2006. His rise there carried him to vice president and general manager of its computing-products business, before he left for Arm in 201334. Arm named him chief executive in February 2022, and he led the company through its Nasdaq listing in September 2023. Revenue and profit at Arm nearly doubled under his watch.
Nvidia's board gave a careful, three-part statement. It said it is "in the process of selecting a search firm for the Nvidia CEO role." It said it has "not formally engaged any potential candidates." And it said speculation about any name, "whether internal or external, is premature"2. The statement left the Haas report unanswered.
Shay Boloor, chief market strategist at Futurum Equities, sees why Haas made the list. "Rene is one of few external candidates who wouldn't need to be brought up to speed on Nvidia," Boloor told Reuters3.
Haas is one name on a longer list the board kept open. Reuters named AMD chief executive Lisa Su, Micron's Sanjay Mehrotra and Marvell's Matt Murphy as other outside possibilities3. Apple hardware chief Johny Srouji's name came up too, alongside Nvidia's own Buck and Kress.
Harvey C. Jones, the board's first-ever chair, is the person who signs off on whichever name the search returns1.
What Arm's Own Shareholders Priced In
Markets read the report as real, whatever Nvidia says in public. Arm fell 6.5 percent on Nov. 13, its sharpest drop in months, on a story both companies left unconfirmed46.
Arm's own annual report already flags the risk. The filing says the company stays "particularly dependent on our senior management team, including Mr. Haas"6. SoftBank Group owns 86 percent of Arm's stock, so it would choose Haas's replacement if Nvidia hired him away.
Its data-center push is still young, and Haas built his own targets around it. The company aims for up to $2 billion in revenue from its new AI data-center chip by its 2028 fiscal year6.
Arm Loses 6.5 Percent of Its Stock Value in One Afternoon
Arm Holdings' share-price drop on Nov. 13, 2026, after the report that Nvidia approached CEO Rene Haas
The magenta wedge is the share of Arm's stock value wiped out the day investors read that Nvidia had approached its chief executive; the gray wedge is the rest of the share price that held.
A one-day share move prices a rumor, short of a confirmed hire; Nvidia's board still keeps its search open.
Sources: Gadget Review [4]; The Motley Fool [6]. Chart by Ryan Elliott Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Lost after the Haas report | 6.5% |
| Whole | 100% |
Nvidia May Already Have Its Answer Inside
Some analysts read the search differently. Kalshi and Polymarket price Ian Buck near 40 percent odds for the permanent job, as of Nov. 127. The other 60 percent of that full 100 percent market splits across every other name, Haas included.
Prediction Markets Give Ian Buck 40 Percent Odds of Nvidia's Top Job
Kalshi and Polymarket odds that Nvidia's own Ian Buck becomes permanent CEO, as of Nov. 12, 2026
Each cube is one percentage point of betting odds; the magenta cubes are the share priced on Buck, out of the 100 percent split across every named candidate.
Source: Yahoo Finance [7]. Chart by Ryan Elliott Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Priced on Ian Buck | 40 |
| Priced on every other name | 60 |
| Whole | 100 |
Buck is Nvidia's own vice president of hyperscale and high-performance computing. He has spent 22 years at the company. Its original CUDA code came from his own keyboard. That software layer turned Nvidia's chips into the industry's default computer for AI.
Boloor names Buck too, in a separate assessment for the same search. "Ian Buck is the strongest long-term internal candidate given his role in creating CUDA and leading Nvidia's hyperscale business," he said11.
Cody Acree, a senior semiconductor research analyst at StoneX, takes the skeptic's side on bringing in Haas. "It's not a perfect fit by any means, but he definitely has the design expertise to run a technical organization like Nvidia," Acree told CBS News5.
Gil Luria, a managing director at D.A. Davidson, expects patience over a quick pick. "We expect a more comprehensive search that will include internal and external candidates and that Ms. Kress will only serve on an interim basis," Luria said5.
Colette Kress, Nvidia's chief financial officer, runs the company day to day in the meantime. John Vinh, an analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, credits her "tenure as CFO since 2013 and deep institutional knowledge of Nvidia's business"7.
Patrick McGee, a contributing writer at The Free Press, doubts any internal name covers Jensen Huang's full range. "I don't know that you can find anyone within Nvidia that has the sort of purview that Jensen has," McGee told CBS News5. Nvidia's board still keeps both lanes, internal and external, open2.
Its Own Workers Want the Old Boss Back
While the board weighs outsiders, hundreds of Nvidia's own staff are pushing the opposite direction. An internal post asking the board to reinstate Huang drew more than 1,600 comments10.
Elon Musk joined the campaign on Nov. 13. "A petition is underway to reinstate Jensen and I'm signing it too," Musk wrote on X9.
Chip analyst Ian Cutress named the same internal favorite the prediction markets did. "The name that keeps coming up for full time CEO is Ian Buck," Cutress wrote8. Every quoted voice on the record, inside Nvidia or out, stops short of calling Haas a lock.
Elon Musk@elonmuskA petition is underway to reinstate Jensen and I’m signing it too
What to do
Two separate signals matter here. Watch whether Nvidia's board actually engages a search firm and sets a timeline2. A named firm would show the Haas story moved from leak to process.
Its own board deserves attention too. A sitting public company CEO drawing outside interest is a fact worth pricing into any deal that assumes Haas stays put6.
By the numbers
- 6.5 percent: Arm's share-price drop on Nov. 13, 2026, after the report that Nvidia approached its CEO4.
- Seven years: how long Rene Haas worked at Nvidia before he left for Arm in 20133.
- 40 percent: Kalshi and Polymarket's odds, as of Nov. 12, 2026, that Nvidia's own Ian Buck gets the permanent CEO job7.
- 22 years: Ian Buck's tenure at Nvidia, where he wrote the original CUDA code7.
- More than 1,600: comments on an internal Nvidia post asking the board to reinstate Jensen Huang10.
- 86 percent: SoftBank Group's ownership stake in Arm, which would pick Haas's successor if he left6.
- 33 years: how long Jensen Huang ran Nvidia before his resignation on Nov. 12, 20261.
What to watch
Nvidia naming a search firm would be the clearest sign the board moved past leaks into a formal process2. Arm's own statements on succession matter too, since a Haas departure would open a search new to both companies6. The board's reply to its own staff is the last piece to watch: the reinstatement petition still awaits one10.
Sources
- NVIDIA Corporation, "NVIDIA Announces CEO Transition," NVIDIA Newsroom, Nov. 12, 2026, https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/11/12/3401635/0/en/nvidia-announces-ceo-transition.html
- Seema Mody and Annie Palmer, "Nvidia hasn't selected search firm for permanent Huang replacement, board tells CNBC," CNBC, Nov. 13, 2026, https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/13/nvidia-huang-ceo-replacement-search.html
- Reuters Staff, "Nvidia approached Arm CEO Rene Haas to succeed Jensen Huang: report," Reuters, Nov. 13, 2026, https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/nvidia-approached-arm-ceo-rene-195019281.html
- Nikshep Myle, "Arm Shares Fall 6.5% After Report Nvidia Approached Its CEO Rene Haas," Gadget Review, Nov. 13, 2026, https://www.gadgetreview.com/arm-shares-fall-6-5-after-report-nvidia-approached-its-ceo-rene-haas
- Mary Cunningham, "Who will succeed Jensen Huang as Nvidia's CEO? We asked Wall Street analysts.," CBS News, Nov. 12, 2026, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jensen-huang-next-nvidia-ceo-candidates/
- Jonathan Ponciano, "Arm Stock Took a Hit Because Investors Fear Nvidia Might Poach Its CEO. Is It Time to Sell?," The Motley Fool, Nov. 13, 2026, https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/11/13/arm-stock-took-a-hit-because-investors-fear-nvidia-might-poach-its-ceo-is-it-time-to-sell/
- Daniel Howley, "Nvidia executive Ian Buck emerges as CEO frontrunner on prediction markets," Yahoo Finance, Nov. 12, 2026, https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/article/nvidia-executive-ian-buck-emerges-as-ceo-frontrunner-on-prediction-markets-202512437.html
- Ian Cutress (@IanCutress), post on X, Nov. 12, 2026, https://x.com/IanCutress/status/2120971125412827486
- Elon Musk (@elonmusk), post on X, Nov. 13, 2026, https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2121345211959804234
- Jose Antonio Lanz, "Could a Former Nvidia Executive Replace Jensen Huang? Arm's Rene Haas Emerges as Candidate," Decrypt, Nov. 13, 2026, https://decrypt.co/383276/nvidia-arm-ceo-rene-haas-replace-jensen-huang
- Hugh Cameron, "Who could replace Jensen Huang as Nvidia CEO? 5 candidates, ranked," Newsweek, Nov. 13, 2026, https://www.newsweek.com/who-could-replace-jensen-huang-as-nvidia-ceo-5-candidates-ranked-12709926
