Colette Kress became Nvidia’s interim chief executive on 12 November, after Jensen Huang resigned as president, chief executive and board member with immediate effect. Kress has been Nvidia’s chief financial officer since September 2013. She will hold both roles until the board names a permanent successor. Nvidia announced the change in a statement on its newsroom.
Before Nvidia, Kress spent years at Cisco and Microsoft
Kress spent about eight years in finance roles at Texas Instruments early in her career. She joined Microsoft in 1997 and became chief financial officer of its Server and Tools division in 2006. She moved to Cisco in 2010 as senior vice president and chief financial officer of its Business Technology and Operations Finance organisation.
Nvidia named Kress executive vice president and chief financial officer in September 2013, as its 2013 filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission shows. She holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Arizona. She also has an MBA from Southern Methodist University.
Kress has run Nvidia’s finances through its growth into one of the world’s most valuable companies. Forbes ranks her 32nd on its 2026 list of America’s richest self-made women. Her Nvidia shares were worth about $750m at the close on 11 November, down from more than $1bn at the stock’s peak in October.
Nvidia also named Harvey C. Jones, a former chief executive and executive chairman of Synopsys, as its first chair. Jones said the board has “full confidence in Colette and the leadership team”. Kress said Nvidia’s “strength has always come from its people”. The company says its operations, customer commitments and product roadmap will continue without interruption.
The board is searching for a permanent chief executive and will consider internal and external candidates. It has not given a timeline. Kress was among the possible successors in our look at who could replace Jensen Huang. Nvidia has not said whether she is a candidate for the permanent role.
Huang told staff about an extramarital affair on 8 November and the board opened an investigation. Then came Huang’s resignation after 33 years. The statement announcing the change does not mention the investigation. The board hired Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to lead it, and we have reported on the investigators. Nvidia has not said whether that review will continue or when it will end.
Nvidia reports its third-quarter results for fiscal 2027 on 17 November, the first set of results since the leadership change. The company says the date has not changed.
