Huang’s Resignation Sends NVIDIA Stock Down 14% at Nov. 12 Open

Key Facts

NVIDIA announced on Nov. 12, 2026, that Jensen Huang had resigned as CEO, company president and a member of the board, effective immediately. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress took over as interim CEO. The announcement came amid pressure on the stock, which fell 14% at the start of trading that day before paring its losses to 4.7% when The Associated Press published its report. The transition puts Kress at the helm as the company looks for a permanent leader, while investors track its accelerated-computing and artificial-intelligence businesses. NVIDIA said Kress would continue as executive vice president and CFO until a permanent successor is named. The company’s announcement did not give a reason for Huang’s resignation.

NVIDIA said its board had begun searching for a permanent CEO and would consider internal and external candidates. At the same time, the board named Harvey C. Jones as its first chairman. Jones is a longtime company director who previously served as CEO and executive chairman at Synopsys. Reuters reported that Huang, who owns a 3.61% stake in NVIDIA, would also leave the board. Jones said the board expected the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption. The arrangement separates the board chair role from the company’s executive leadership as the search for a permanent CEO proceeds.

Kress has served as NVIDIA’s executive vice president and CFO since joining the company in September 2013, after spending nearly 25 years in finance roles at technology companies. Her continued service as CFO alongside her interim leadership role gives her a direct role in managing the company during the leadership transition. Kress said NVIDIA would remain focused on serving customers, partners, developers and shareholders. She added that the company would continue its work in accelerated computing and artificial intelligence and pursue upcoming opportunities. Jones said the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap would continue without interruption.

The resignation follows an announcement by NVIDIA’s board on Nov. 8 that it had opened an independent investigation into reports that Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence effort. The board said in that statement that it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets had been compromised. Media reports described two relationships Huang had outside marriage, one with a businesswoman whom U.S. intelligence suspects of being a Chinese spy, while Beijing denies this, according to The Associated Press. The AP said the resignation announcement did not address the two relationships. NVIDIA did not attribute the resignation in its official announcement to those reports or the investigation, saying only that it was effective immediately.

Huang co-founded NVIDIA in 1993 with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, and led the company from then until his resignation, according to The Associated Press. As demand for AI computing surged, the company’s stock rose sevenfold through early October, and its market value reached nearly $6 trillion at one point, according to a Reuters report published by Investing.com. But the stock fell 27% from its peak the previous month through Wednesday, Nov. 11, amid concerns about Huang’s continued leadership and how the company would manage the period after him, according to the AP. In trading on Nov. 12, the stock initially fell 14% before paring its losses to 4.7% at the time of the report. Over the same period, AMD shares rose 5.6% and Broadcom shares rose 5.8%.

Attention now turns to results for the third quarter of fiscal 2027, which ended on Oct. 25, 2026. NVIDIA scheduled its earnings call for Nov. 17 at 2 p.m. Pacific time. The company said Kress’s written commentary on the results would be published immediately after their release, at around 1:20 p.m. Pacific time. This will be the first near-term financial milestone giving investors a chance to follow the company’s update on performance under interim leadership. The market is also watching for any developments the board may announce in its search for a permanent CEO.