NVIDIA CEO and Co-Founder Jensen Huang Resigns, Effective Immediately

We pulled today’s planned review because, well, there is huge news in the world of technology. Jensen Huang has resigned as CEO of NVIDIA, marking the end of an era.

In a brief press release published by NVIDIA a bit before 6:00am PT, the company announced that Jensen Huang, the co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA, has resigned from the company effective immediately. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Colette Kress, NVIDIA’s current Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, while the company undertakes a search for a permanent CEO. Officially, NVIDIA and its board have not commented on why Huang is resigning. However, the NVIDIA leader and his reputation have been very publicly impaired in recent weeks by the allegations of multiple extramarital affairs with significant geopolitical considerations. The first of which involved a Chinese citizen, and attracted the attention of the US government due to concerns over Huang being the target of a foreign intelligence effort. That affair was confirmed by Huang and the company on Sunday, when Huang sent out an email to the company apologizing for his actions. The events behind that letter had already spurred NVIDIA’s Board of Directors to initiate an independent investigation, with the company hiring Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and former acting U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York Joon H. Kim to lead the investigation. More recently, yesterday the New York Times reported on a second affair. This one involved an NVIDIA employee, Kimberly Powell, who is NVIDIA’s Vice President of Health Care. Following that news story, media reports indicated that NVIDIA’s Board of Directors held a same-day meeting to discuss the fate of Huang and the company. But whatever the underpinning reasons, the situation has escalated to the point where Huang is resigning from NVIDIA, effective immediately. And with it, NVIDIA’s Board is taking a number of steps to ensure the continuity and stability of the company. For the time being, NVIDIA’s CFO Colette Kress will be stepping up to lead the company on an interim basis.