SANTA CLARA — Jensen Huang surrendered his post late Wednesday night, severing his three-decade reign atop Nvidia Corp. after personal scandals and national security scrutiny overwhelmed the world's premier artificial intelligence chipmaker.
The collapse was swift. After weeks spent denying allegations of infidelity and battling to preserve his authority, Huang offered no resistance during an emergency remote board session that stretched into the midnight hours. His departure leaves him with no formal role at the company he co-founded and built into a multitrillion-dollar technology titan.
By Thursday morning, the board installed Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim chief executive officer to steady an enterprise rattled to its foundation.
The crisis ignited in late October over Huang's relationship with Alice Huang, an individual suspected of operating on behalf of Chinese intelligence. Huang had pushed back against internal questioning since late 2025, insisting to colleagues and advisers that their interactions were typical of executive-level customer engagements in China. The board of directors—packed with longtime business allies, early investors, and personal friends—initially stalled, declining to act or issue public statements.
Yet the wall cracked on Friday, Nov. 6, when disclosures revealed United States officials identified the relationship as romantic.
Nvidia General Counsel Tim Teter moved immediately. Teter drove directly to Huang’s residence to confront the chief executive, extracting an admission of the affair. As corporate secretary, Teter informed the hesitant board that inaction was no longer legally or operationally viable. The board subsequently ordered an independent inquiry, retaining corporate law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to head the investigation. By Sunday, Huang sent a company-wide email admitting to the extramarital affair, apologizing to his family, and pledging complete cooperation with external investigators.
The personal turmoil fractured Huang's legendary grip on corporate operations. Huang maintained an unusual management structure where roughly 60 senior executives reported directly to him. Every employee had to submit regular five-point priority lists directly to his inbox—a system he historically monitored and answered day and night.
Now, his responses slowed to a crawl. Distraction set in.
Before the board could absorb the fallout of the first revelation, a second shock arrived Wednesday: disclosures confirmed Huang maintained another extramarital relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of health care. With dual ethics breaches laid bare, directors assembled online for a mandatory showdown. Confronted by board leaders, Huang conceded. Witnesses described his take-charge posture as completely spent, with the chief executive telling associates he had become a "piece of sh--" and answering corporate matters with "whatever" and "I don't care."
Jensen's contributions to Nvidia are profound. Nvidia is one of the most consequential technology companies in the world.
Harvey Jones, Chair of the Board, Nvidia Corp.
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Executive Role | Jensen Huang resigned; vacated all formal posts | ||
| Interim Chief Executive | Colette Kress (Chief Financial Officer) appointed | ||
| Independent Investigation Lead | Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz | ||
| Key Board Officials Involved | Harvey Jones (Board Chair), Tim Teter (General Counsel) | ||
| Stated Breach Categories | Undisclosed executive relationship; suspected foreign intelligence exposure |
Colette Kress moved quickly on Thursday to calm a stunned workforce and prevent defections across the engineering ranks.
"I believe deeply in this company and in its future," Kress wrote in an internal memo to all staff. "More than anything, I believe in each of you, in our customers and partners."
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz will continue reviewing executive communications and governance compliance across Nvidia's corporate apparatus, with formal findings expected to go directly to Board Chair Harvey Jones in the coming weeks.