Jensen Huang has resigned as chief executive of Nvidia after 33 years, days after he admitted to an affair with a woman who U.S. intelligence officials are reported to believe is a Chinese spy, and following a report of a second relationship.
Nvidia’s board announced on Thursday that Huang had resigned as president, chief executive officer and board member, effective immediately. In a regulatory filing, the company said the board accepted his resignation on Wednesday.
Kress takes over as interim CEO
Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress, who joined Nvidia in September 2013, will serve as interim CEO and keep her finance duties until a permanent successor is named. The board said it will consider both internal and external candidates.
The board also appointed Harvey C. Jones, a managing partner of Square Wave Ventures and former CEO of Synopsys, as Nvidia’s first-ever chair. Jones has served on the board since 1993. Until now, Nvidia’s board had no chair, an unusual arrangement for a company of its size.
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“The Board and the company thank Jensen for his immeasurable contributions,” the board said in a statement, adding that it expects the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption. Huang had not commented publicly on his departure at the time of writing.
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How the story unfolded
On Sunday, Huang told staff in an internal message that he had been unfaithful to his wife, and Nvidia’s board opened an independent investigation into reports that he had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. The woman involved, Alice Huang, who is not related to him, is an executive at a company that is a major Nvidia customer. Both the Chinese government and Nvidia had rejected suggestions of wrongdoing, with Beijing calling the allegations baseless.
On Wednesday evening, The New York Times reported a second relationship, with an Nvidia executive who reported to him. Nvidia’s board met later that night.
Why it matters for markets and Washington
Huang turned Nvidia from a maker of graphics cards for gaming into the supplier of the chips that power artificial intelligence, and the company is among the largest in the stock market. According to reports, Nvidia shares fell about 4.3% in Thursday trading, and the company is due to report earnings on Tuesday.
Lawmakers in Washington have also been involved. A House committee has asked Huang for a closed-door briefing about his relationship with Alice Huang, and reports say senators have called for documents to be preserved and for further testimony. Nvidia will now have to manage its relationships with lawmakers and the White House without the founder who had led them.
Huang was Nvidia’s largest individual shareholder, with about 3.6% of the company.
