Huang’s Resignation Sends Nvidia Stock Down More Than 14%, Weighs on Its Perpetual Contracts
Key Facts
Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia’s chairman, chief executive and board member, effective immediately, the company said. The move came on Thursday, November 12, 2026, putting the leadership of the world’s largest chipmaker under market pressure as its investments become increasingly intertwined with the artificial intelligence ecosystem. Nvidia shares fell more than 14% in early trading before paring losses, and the company was poised to lose about $200 billion in market value, according to Reuters. The Associated Press reported that the stock fell 10% in premarket trading after news of the resignation. In its statement, Nvidia said Huang’s resignation covered all three positions and took effect immediately.
The company appointed Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim chief executive, while the board said it would consider internal and external candidates to choose a permanent successor. Nvidia had no succession plan, according to the Associated Press, making the transition dependent on the board’s decision on the next candidate. Kress joined the company in 2013 as executive vice president and chief financial officer, the AP reported. Her interim appointment comes as investors face a practical question about management continuity and execution at a company whose operations require extensive coordination across chip design, supply expansion and investment in the sector. Reuters quoted a portfolio manager as saying, "The risk is in execution," adding that Huang was "the key leader of an exceptionally complex system."
The leadership news also affected derivatives linked to the stock, but the contracts moved before the resignation announcement. CoinDesk reported that Nvidia-linked perpetual contracts on Hyperliquid fell about 12% to $160.99 at the time of its report on November 11, amid reports that Huang might be ousted. That was in a session before the resignation announcement on November 12, so those prices do not reflect a subsequent response to the official decision. CoinDesk also reported that trading volume in Nvidia perpetual contracts across all platforms exceeded $4 billion at the time of its report, according to Coinglass data. Binance accounted for 44% of that volume, indicating that the reported activity spanned multiple platforms, not Hyperliquid alone.
On Hyperliquid, NVDA contracts were the platform’s largest traditional-asset markets and its fourth-largest contracts overall by open interest, according to CoinDesk. Open interest in HYPE-USDC contracts on the platform was $535 million at the time of the same report. These figures show the size of outstanding positions in the platform’s markets during that period, but do not by themselves prove that trading in Nvidia contracts exceeded Ethereum, or that the resignation caused trading volume to rise. The move in perpetual contracts on November 11, linked to reports that Huang might be ousted, remains separate in time from Nvidia stock’s fall in early trading on Thursday after the resignation announcement. The documented facts here include no comparison confirming that Nvidia contracts led Ethereum in trading volume for two consecutive days.
The resignation follows a governance backdrop: Nvidia said its board had begun an independent investigation into reports that a foreign intelligence agency had targeted Huang. The board added that it did not believe company secrets or national security had been compromised. In a broader context, Reuters said Huang’s departure could disrupt the AI ecosystem he helped shape by reinvesting Nvidia’s growing cash flows in cloud-service providers, suppliers and major laboratories. That interconnection puts the leadership transition at the center of investor attention, alongside the direct impact on the stock. The latest official financial results published before the resignation showed revenue of $96.2 billion in the second quarter of fiscal 2027, up 106% year over year and 18% from the previous quarter.
Attention now turns to Nvidia’s conference to discuss its third-quarter fiscal 2027 results, scheduled for November 17. The quarter covers the period ended October 25, 2026, according to the company’s announcement. The conference will take place days after the resignation announcement, as the board’s selection of a permanent successor to Huang draws scrutiny. The reported financial results are expected to be the conference’s focus, alongside investors’ attention to the leadership transition. The company said the board would consider internal and external candidates, without naming a permanent successor so far.