Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Resigns; Shares Plunge as Kress Steps In

Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang has resigned as the chipmaker’s president, chief executive and board member, effective immediately, the company announced Thursday. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress has agreed to serve as interim CEO and will keep her CFO role until a permanent successor is named, according to Nvidia’s announcement. The board accepted Huang’s resignation on Wednesday, TechCrunch reported, citing a regulatory filing.

The resignation follows reports of two extramarital affairs, including one involving a woman U.S. authorities suspect of spying for China, according to Euronews. Huang admitted on Sunday to being unfaithful to his wife in that relationship, Fox Business reported. NBC News reported that the departure came after a New York Times report that Huang had a relationship with an Nvidia executive who reports to him. Nvidia’s board had said it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised, according to Fox Business.

BREAKING: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns over controversy surrounding two extramarital affairs, including one involving a woman suspected of spying for China.

The departure comes as Nvidia investigates whether Huang was targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. pic.twitter.com/QGJ9gYfOa4

— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 12, 2026

Shares Slide, Dragging Wall Street

Nvidia shares fell more than 13% at the open before paring some losses, Euronews reported. NBC News said the stock sank 12% at the open and was still down more than 6% as of 10 a.m. ET, and that Nvidia was the biggest decliner in both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 in early trading. Nvidia’s total market value has fallen below $4 trillion for the first time since 2025, according to NBC News.

Euronews reported that the S&P 500 fell 0.7% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 1.5%, while the Dow added 127 points. Since Friday, Nvidia’s stock has fallen by as much as 19%, a market value loss of more than $855 billion, TechCrunch reported.

Not every chip stock fell. Shares of rivals Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom rose sharply, while CoreWeave, a data center company in which Nvidia owns a stake of about 13%, slid nearly 9%, Euronews reported.

Board Promises Continuity

“The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team, and we expect the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption,” Harvey Jones said in Nvidia’s announcement. The board named Jones, a former Synopsys CEO, as its first-ever chair, and said it will consider internal and external candidates for a permanent CEO, according to the announcement. Jones has served on Nvidia’s board since 1993, TechCrunch reported.

“I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years,” Kress said in the announcement. Huang is the single largest personal shareholder at Nvidia but owns only about 3.5% of the company’s shares and does not hold supervoting rights, TechCrunch reported.

Analysts and Washington Weigh In

Baird downgraded the stock to neutral, citing uncertainty surrounding Huang’s tenure, potential softness in demand and limited visibility into 2027 data center spending, Fox Business reported. Before the decision was announced, Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives & Co. said the company could lose a quarter of its valuation if Huang left, according to Euronews.

NBC News reported that the news surrounding Huang, a confidant of President Donald Trump, also raises the prospect of tighter regulation of the chip and AI industry.

Daily Beltway will continue to follow the Nvidia leadership search and its effect on markets.

Sources

• Fox News on X
• Nvidia Newsroom
• Fox Business
• NBC News
• Euronews
• TechCrunch

Compiled from Fox News.