Nvidia, the chipmaker at the center of the artificial intelligence boom, said Thursday, November 12, that Jensen Huang has resigned as president, chief executive and board member, effective immediately. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO while keeping her CFO duties until a permanent successor is named.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nvidia’s board also named longtime director Harvey C. Jones as the company’s first-ever board chair. The board said it will consider both internal and external candidates for the top job and expects operations, customer commitments and its product roadmap to continue without interruption. The filing did not give a reason for the resignation.
What led to the change
The move follows several days of turmoil. Nvidia had opened a board review after news reports involving Huang, including reports that he had been targeted by a foreign intelligence effort, and Huang had acknowledged personal misconduct in a memo to employees. The board said it had “no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised,” Fortune reported. On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported the board was preparing to remove him.
As Upstormed News reported Wednesday, Nvidia shares had already slid for two days on the board review before a brief rebound. See Stocks Rebound as CoreWeave Results Revive AI Trade.
Who is Colette Kress?
Kress joined Nvidia in 2013 and helped guide its financial growth, according to Yahoo Finance. Before that she was a senior finance executive at Cisco, spent 13 years at Microsoft, including as CFO of its server and tools group, and held several roles at Texas Instruments. Jones has served on Nvidia’s board since 1993, when he was CEO of the chip-design software company Synopsys.
How the stock reacted
Nvidia shares fell as much as 13% in early trading Thursday before recovering part of the loss, Yahoo Finance reported, and the company’s market value briefly dropped below $4 trillion, down from a peak near $5 trillion. That left Nvidia third by market value, behind Apple and Microsoft. By early afternoon, the stock was down about 5%, near $165, according to The Motley Fool, after touching a 52-week low of $148.80. Trading volume was several times its normal level.
Rival chipmaker AMD rose about 5% to 6%, which The Motley Fool tied to an analyst upgrade and to investors weighing whether Nvidia’s leadership shake-up could help competitors. The broader market edged higher by midday.
Wall Street analysts were split on what comes next:
- Oppenheimer downgraded the stock, citing “massive shoes to fill and no obvious successor.”
- Bernstein kept a Market Perform rating with a $200 price target, saying uncertainty over a new CEO weighs on the shares.
- Citigroup cut its price target to $225 from $285, and Yorkville’s Dan Ives cut his to $225 from $300.
- Stifel said the stock’s direction depends more on how the transition is handled than on the change itself.
Washington weighs in
The resignation has also drawn political attention. President Trump praised Huang’s work and said Apple CEO Tim Cook should replace him, Yahoo Finance reported. Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons asked the administration to preserve records related to Nvidia dealings, and Democrats said they would look into sales of Nvidia chips to Chinese companies.
Meanwhile: jobless claims tick up
In economic data released Thursday morning, the Labor Department said first-time applications for unemployment benefits rose by 9,000 to 200,000 in the week ended November 7, from a revised 191,000 the week before, RTTNews reported. Economists had expected about 195,000. Even with the increase, layoffs remain low, a sign employers are mostly holding on to workers. That fits the picture from the October jobs report, which showed hiring picking up.
Why it matters for families
- Retirement accounts: Nvidia is one of the three most valuable U.S. companies, so large swings in its stock can move the broad index funds many 401(k) plans hold. This is general information, not investment advice.
- AI and tech jobs: Nvidia’s chips power much of the AI industry, including companies like Anthropic, which is heading toward an IPO. Leadership uncertainty is being watched closely across the sector.
- Job market: Unemployment claims staying near 200,000 suggests most workers are not facing a wave of layoffs right now.
What to watch next
Nvidia still plans to report quarterly earnings on Tuesday, November 17, which will be Kress’s first major test as interim CEO. Investors will also watch for news on the CEO search and any congressional follow-up. Upstormed News will keep following this developing story.
Read more: Strong growth, hot prices, a likely rate hike: The U.S. economy for families now
Should big companies have a clear succession plan ready before a crisis hits? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Sources: Nvidia via SEC, “NVIDIA Announces CEO Transition” (November 12, 2026); Yahoo Finance, “Nvidia live updates: Jensen Huang ousted, CFO Colette Kress to serve as interim CEO” (November 12, 2026); The Motley Fool, “Stock Market Midday, Nov. 12: Nvidia CEO Resigns, AMD Surges as Wall Street Edges Higher” (November 12, 2026); Fortune, “Nvidia’s Jensen Huang resigns, CFO Colette Kress named interim CEO” (November 11, 2026); RTTNews, “U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Climb More Than Expected” (November 12, 2026)
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