Nvidia Charts Post-Huang Course as Interim CEO Colette Kress Faces Staff

Nvidia is trying to steady itself under interim leadership, days after its board accepted the resignation of co-founder Jensen Huang, with an all-hands company meeting scheduled for November 18 at 9 a.m. Pacific time.

In messages to employees, interim chief executive Colette Kress and board chair Harvey Jones struck a reassuring tone, according to copies of the emails obtained by CNBC. Jones sent the first email and Kress replied shortly afterward, the network reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

"I believe deeply in this company and in its future," Kress wrote, thanking staff for their "resilience, professionalism and continued dedication" during what she called "an extraordinarily difficult period."

Jones described Kress as "a key architect of NVIDIA's growth and capital strategy" and said the board backed her. "The Board has full confidence in Colette to deliver on our commitments to shareholders, customers, partners, and to each of you," he wrote.

Resignation ends a 33-year run

The leadership change follows a rapid sequence of disclosures. On October 29, The New York Times reported that Huang had been the target of an espionage plot involving the Chinese government, citing U.S. intelligence sources, according to a Wikipedia account of the episode. The reporting centered on Huang's extramarital affair with Alice Huang, no relation, a Chinese national and executive at the Singapore-based company Megaspeed, whom U.S. intelligence sources reportedly suspected had been recruited by China's Ministry of State Security.

The Times reported on November 11 that Huang had also had a relationship with an Nvidia executive who reported to him. That day the board accepted his resignation as chief executive, president and board member, ending 33 years at the company; Nvidia announced the move the next day and named chief financial officer Colette Kress as interim CEO.

China policy in the balance

The shake-up lands at a sensitive moment for Nvidia's most contested market. Huang had been an influential voice in Washington on AI and export policy; Ars Technica reported that President Donald Trump lifted export controls on Nvidia's H200 chips after courting Huang's advice, over warnings from lawmakers and national security experts. Huang had blamed those controls for cutting Nvidia's share of China's advanced AI chip market from about 95 percent to zero, the outlet reported.

Nvidia has not announced a permanent successor, and the board has not indicated a timetable for the search.