Nvidia, the company at the center of the artificial intelligence boom, is entering a new chapter without the founder who led it for more than three decades. In a release filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, Nvidia said Jensen Huang had resigned as president, chief executive officer and a member of the board, effective immediately.
Who is in charge now
The company named Colette Kress, its executive vice president and chief financial officer, as interim CEO. She will keep her CFO duties and serve as interim chief until a permanent successor is named, according to the release. Kress joined Nvidia in September 2013 after spending nearly 25 years in finance roles at companies including Cisco and Microsoft.
Nvidia also appointed longtime director Harvey C. Jones as its first-ever chair of the board. The board said it is starting a search for a permanent CEO and will consider both internal and external candidates. The release did not give a reason for Huang’s departure, which followed days of reports that the board was weighing his future.
A wild day for the stock
Investors reacted sharply. Nvidia shares fell as much as 14% shortly after Thursday’s open, reaching their lowest level since June 2025, according to Yahoo Finance. The stock then recovered much of that ground and closed down about 4%, at roughly $166 a share, according to CNBC closing data cited by Eurasia Business News. Several rival AI chip stocks moved higher during the session, the AP reported.
Retail investors appeared to see the drop as an opportunity. Small investors bought a net $111 million of Nvidia stock in the first 30 minutes of trading, the biggest opening on record, according to Vanda Research data cited by Yahoo Finance. In premarket trading Friday, the shares were up nearly 3%, per Stocktwits.
Earnings are the first big test
Kress will not have long to settle in. Nvidia confirmed it will report third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday, November 17, at about 1:20 p.m. Pacific time, as previously scheduled, with a conference call at 2 p.m. Pacific. The company said it expects operations to continue without interruption.
Kress is a familiar voice to Wall Street, since she has delivered the financial commentary on Nvidia’s earnings calls for years. That continuity may help reassure investors who track the company’s data center sales, which are closely watched as a gauge of overall AI spending.
Why it matters beyond Nvidia
Nvidia is one of the largest companies in the U.S. stock market, so its swings ripple through index funds and retirement accounts. The leadership change also comes as the broader chip sector posts strong results. Applied Materials, for example, reported record quarterly revenue on Thursday and said AI continues to drive demand for semiconductors.
For now, the key questions are who will lead Nvidia long term and whether customers and employees stay steady during the transition. Tuesday’s report should offer the first clues.
