Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang has resigned as chairman, president, and CEO, effective immediately, following reports of two extramarital affairs. The board of directors accepted Huang's resignation on Wednesday after an emergency meeting, according to a company statement and reports from The Wall Street Journal. Colette Kress, the current chief financial officer, has been appointed interim CEO while the company launches a search for a permanent successor.
The resignation follows revelations regarding Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, an executive at the Singapore-based cloud provider Megaspeed. The New York Times reported that Alice Huang is an alleged asset of China’s Ministry of State Security tasked with collecting information on advanced AI chips. This relationship has drawn scrutiny from U.S. officials and lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, who stated that the resignation does not absolve the company of responsibility for potentially risking national security.
In addition to the allegations involving the Megaspeed executive, The New York Times reported that Huang engaged in a second extramarital affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare, who reports directly to him. While Huang issued a memo to employees apologizing to his family and shareholders for being "unfaithful," sources familiar with the matter told WIRED that the relationship with a subordinate likely played a significant role in the board's decision to oust him.
Nvidia is also restructuring its leadership, appointing former Synopsys CEO Harvey C. Jones as the company's first board chair. The departure of Huang, an architect of the AI boom who helped lead Nvidia to a $4 trillion valuation, has caused significant market volatility. Nvidia shares fell more than 10% following the announcement, and analysts noted the company had already lost approximately $1.4 trillion in market capitalization in the two weeks since the initial espionage allegations surfaced.
"NVIDIA’s strength has always come from its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years," Kress said in a statement regarding the transition.
