Nvidia founder Jensen Huang (젠슨 황) has stepped down as president and chief executive officer. He will also leave the board. Nvidia said in an official announcement on Tuesday that Huang’s resignation takes immediate effect.

Senior vice president and chief financial officer Colette Kress (콜레트 크레스) will serve as interim CEO until a successor is confirmed. Kress will keep her CFO role. The board has begun searching for a permanent CEO, considering both internal and external candidates.

The board has also created the role of chairman for the first time since the company’s founding. Harvey C. Jones (하비 존스) will serve as the first chairman. Jones previously served as CEO and chairman of Synopsys and has worked for more than 30 years as an entrepreneur, technology executive and venture investor. Kress joined Nvidia in September 2013. She handled finance work for nearly 25 years at companies including Cisco and Microsoft.

Jones said, "Colette has led the company as Nvidia went through a remarkable period of growth and has a deep understanding of the business, customers and financial situation." He added, "We expect company operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap to continue without interruption." Kress said, "I will continue leadership in accelerated computing and AI on the foundation Jensen built over the past 33 years."

Nvidia’s official announcement did not include a reason for the resignation. Earlier, Nvidia’s board said on Nov. 8 it would launch an independent investigation in connection with reports that Huang had been targeted by operations by a foreign intelligence agency. The Financial Times and The New York Times reported that Huang had ties to a former executive at Singapore data centre company Megaspeed who is suspected of being recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security. Nvidia did not mention any link between the resignation and the investigation in this announcement.

Nvidia will release fiscal 2027 third-quarter results as scheduled at about 1:20 p.m. Pacific time on Nov. 17, or about 6:20 a.m. on Nov. 18 in South Korea. The earnings conference call will be held at 2 p.m. the same day.