Jensen Huang has resigned from his positions as president, Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of NVIDIA, effective immediately, the company announced on November 12.
The resignation comes just a week after the NewYork Times revealed that the US intelligence agencies had concluded he had a “close relationship” with Alice Huang, who was suspected to have recruited by China’s Ministry of State Security.
Huang later admitted to the affair with the alleged Chinese spy. He acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife in an internal memo to employees.
The revelation spurred investigations from the US Congress as well as the FBI. On November 8, the company’s board also announced an independent investigation over national security concerns. However, it said it had no reason to believe that NVIDIA’s secrets or US national security had been compromised.
The New York Times also later reported a relationship between Huang and Kimberly Powell, NVIDIA’s Vice President of Healthcare.
Colette Kress, NVIDIA’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), has been appointed interim CEO. She will continue to oversee the company’s finance operations while the board searches for a permanent successor, considering both internal and external candidates.
Kress joined NVIDIA in September 2013 and has served as its CFO since. Before joining the company, she spent nearly 25 years in finance roles at technology companies, including Cisco and Microsoft.
“Colette has helped lead NVIDIA through a period of extraordinary growth and has a deep understanding of our business, customers, operations, and financial position,” said Harvey C Jones, who was appointed as NVIDIA’s first chair of the board of directors.
In her first statement as interim CEO, Kress said she would focus on building on the foundation created by Huang during his 33 years at the company.
“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.
