Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang has resigned, the tech large introduced Thursday. Huang’s resignation comes amid stories of his alleged affair with a reported Chinese language spy.
Colette Kress, the present govt vice chairman and chief monetary officer, has agreed to take over as interim CEO, the corporate mentioned in a statement.
“The Board has full confidence in Colette and the management workforce, and we anticipate the corporate’s operations, buyer commitments and product roadmap to proceed with out interruption,” mentioned Harvey Jones, chair of the Nvidia Board of Administrators.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks after attending the AI Ecosystem Reception in Tokyo, Japan, July 16, 2026.
Manami Yamada/Reuters
The Nvidia board is launching a seek for a everlasting CEO, and it’ll take into account each candidates from inside and out of doors the corporate, the assertion mentioned.
Shares of Nvidia tumbled about 5% as of Thursday morning, recovering a few of the losses from a plunge of greater than 13% on the open of buying and selling.
Huang’s resignation got here days after the corporate issued an announcement announcing an investigation into Huang in gentle of reporting he “has been the goal of a international intelligence effort.” He later admitted in an inner message to Nvidia employees that he had been “untrue to his spouse.”
Amid the fallout from the allegations and the inner message, The New York Instances reported on Wednesday that Huang additionally allegedly had an extramarital relationship with an Nvidia govt who allegedly stories to him.
The outlet, citing sources inside the firm, reported that Huang and his colleague had been allegedly captured on video being affectionate at a lodge throughout an Nvidia convention in March. The Instances mentioned it had not seen the video.
ABC Information has not been capable of confirm the reporting or the alleged video.
The NVIDIA emblem signal is displayed exterior the company’s headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan, November 12, 2026.
Ritchie B. Tongo/EPA/Shutterstock
Following the reporting about Jensen Huang and Alice Huang, who should not associated, the Chinese language authorities denied the allegations, calling them “baseless and purely slanderous smears in opposition to China.”
Neither Alice Huang nor her employer, Megaspeed Worldwide, responded to ABC Information’ request for remark after the Instances story broke. Alice Huang is presently dwelling in China, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Nvidia soared to prominence lately by promoting a lot of the superior chips behind the AI increase. The corporate has defied skeptics with sturdy income quarter after quarter, regardless of political backlash in opposition to knowledge facilities and looming considerations about an AI monetary bubble.
NVIDIA Chief Monetary Officer, Colette Kress.
NVIDIA
Whereas the inventory has carried out effectively over a long-term interval it has struggled to maintain rising at a gentle clip of late, even earlier than the scandal surrounding Huang. Shares of Nvidia are up a staggering 429% over the previous 5 years, although the inventory has fallen about 17% in comparison with a 12 months in the past.
As of Thursday morning, Nvidia ranked because the third-largest public firm on the planet as measured by market capitalization. The 2 bigger public firms are Apple and Microsoft.
On Sunday, Nvidia shared with ABC Information the inner message Jensen Huang despatched to workers, during which he mentioned he was “untrue,” apologizing for hurting his spouse and household.
“My actions harm her and our youngsters. There isn’t a excuse for what I did. I’m deeply sorry,” the message mentioned, partly. It didn’t title Alice Huang nor some other particular person.
Addressing Nvidia employees, companions and shareholders, Huang went on to say, “My duty is to serve you and be worthy of your belief. I’ve fallen in need of that duty. I’m totally dedicated to NVIDIA and can work to earn again your confidence.”
4 days later, Huang resigned.
