Jensen Huang resigns as Nvidia CEO, leaving Colette Kress as interim

Jensen Huang, who founded Nvidia and built it into the world's largest chipmaker, resigned as chief executive with immediate effect on November 12, per the company's announcement 1

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. His exit came a day after a New York Times report of an extramarital affair. Neither he nor the woman named in the report has confirmed it 1

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The company named finance chief Colette Kress interim CEO while the board hunts for a permanent successor 1

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. Its release offered no reason for the resignation, only thanks to Huang for his contributions to the company and the industry 2

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. Analysts had warned a departure could cut the stock by 20%, and the interim appointment points to a company with no successor prepared 1

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The admission and the report

Huang admitted infidelity in a November 8 message to Nvidia staff, apologizing to his wife and children and writing, "There is no excuse for what I did" 1

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. It is the only first-person account in the story, and it named no woman 1

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The sequence is hard to miss: the admission on November 8, the Times report on November 11, the resignation announced November 12 2

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. The Times reported an alleged relationship with Kimberly Powell, who joined Nvidia in 2008 and has run its healthcare business since 2017 1

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. Two of five former employees told the Times the pair were caught on video being affectionate at a San Jose hotel during a company conference in March 4

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. The person who filmed it, they said, signed a nondisclosure agreement after Huang's security team spotted them 4

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. Neither Huang nor Powell has acknowledged a relationship, and the video account rests on anonymous sources with no published footage 1

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One unnamed former employee said rumors about the two had circulated for years, though that account ties the gossip to Powell's lack of health or science training rather than any observed relationship 1

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. Reuters, citing two people, reported Thursday a third alleged relationship, the woman again unnamed 3

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Powell, an 18-year Nvidia veteran who joined in 2008 and has led its healthcare group since 2017, canceled her appearance at the Milken Institute's Future of Health Summit in Washington 2

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. She had been due to speak this week. The cancellation came days after she had publicly pitched AI-driven medicine on a healthcare podcast, describing hospitals that run themselves with robots and calling 2026 the year AI became useful 3

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. No reason for the cancellation was given publicly 2

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The stock and the man

Per Bernstein's Stacy Rasgon, investors had come to treat Huang as the company itself: "Jensen is Nvidia, right? He is the visionary" 1

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. Shares fell nearly 10% in Thursday trading once the exit became known, per CNBC 1

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. The stock had already been heading for a sixth straight losing week as the scandal unfolded, per CNBC 1

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His exit also leaves his fortune entangled with his marriage. About 800 million Nvidia shares, worth roughly $135 billion, sit in trusts he shares with his wife Lori, against about $12 billion in his name alone 1

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. "It's like a joint checking account," said Kathleen Martone, a partner at Varnum LLP, of such shared trusts 1

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The investigation and Congress

Nvidia's independent directors have hired law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and former federal prosecutor Joon H. Kim to investigate spying allegations involving a different woman, Alice Huang 1

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. She is a Chinese citizen based in Singapore whom US intelligence officials reportedly believe acted as an agent for China's Ministry of State Security 1

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. She and Jensen Huang are not related, and the claim is unproven 1

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. The directors said they hired the pair "to conduct a thorough and independent investigation as was announced on Sunday" 1

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The inquiry's announced scope does not cover the Powell report, so it cannot settle the claims that preceded the resignation 1

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. Nvidia says it has "no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised" 1

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. Megaspeed, Alice Huang's employer, denies wrongdoing and points to inspections of its operations that turned up no violations 1

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. The admission covered his marriage and nothing else; it said nothing about whether any relationship touched Nvidia's business 1

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Congress has not accepted the company's statement as the last word, and a political response could touch the China business Huang only recently won 1

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. Raymond James analysts say the scrutiny could make it harder for Washington to stay out of the matter 1

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. The stakes include sales of advanced Nvidia chips to China that Trump approved only in January 1

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. The House Select Committee on China has asked Huang to attend a briefing on November 18 1

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