On Thursday 12 November 2026, Jensen Huang resigned as chief executive of Nvidia, effective immediately, ending a 33-year run at the company he co-founded. The announcement came about 40 minutes before the US stock market opened, and Nvidia's shares fell sharply within minutes.
Huang was not just another chief executive. He turned Nvidia from a maker of graphics chips for gamers into the world's most important supplier of AI chips, a company worth roughly $4 trillion. His exit is the biggest leadership change in the technology industry this year, and it raises real questions about what comes next for Nvidia and for the AI boom it helped create.
Here is what happened, who is in charge now, and what it means for you.
What happened
The resignation followed a week of damaging reports about Huang's personal conduct.
Over the weekend, reports emerged that Huang had an affair with a Chinese businesswoman whom US authorities suspect of spying for Beijing. Huang admitted to the affair and apologised, and Nvidia's board opened an investigation.
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported a second affair, this time with a senior Nvidia executive who reported directly to him. The board met later that day to consider his future, and the Wall Street Journal reported it was preparing to remove him.
On Thursday morning, Nvidia announced that Huang had resigned as president, chief executive and a member of the board, effective immediately. The company thanked him for his "immeasurable contributions" but gave no reason for the departure in its statement, and included no comment from Huang himself.
Who is running Nvidia now
Colette Kress, Nvidia's chief financial officer since September 2013, has been named interim chief executive while the board searches for a permanent replacement. She has been at the centre of Nvidia's rise: the company's revenue was $4.13 billion in the fiscal year she joined, and $215.9 billion in fiscal 2026.
Harvey C. Jones, a former Synopsys chief executive and Nvidia board member, was named the company's first-ever chairman of the board.
Huang, who is 63, is Nvidia's fourth-largest investor, with a stake of about 3.61% in the company, but he will not remain on the board.
Why the market reacted so sharply
Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and led it for more than three decades. Under him, the company went from selling graphics cards for video games to making the chips that power the data centres behind AI assistants like ChatGPT, and his word has moved markets for years.
So when the announcement landed, investors reacted fast. Nvidia's shares fell more than 10% before the market opened on Thursday, and closed the day down 4.3% at $166.19, the lowest close since 30 March 2026. At the worst point of the day, roughly $500 billion had been wiped off the company's market value.
Analysts described the change as painful but necessary. Technology analyst Dan Ives said the board needed to "rip off the band-aid" and take Nvidia into its next chapter without Huang.
What this means for AI, and for you
In the short term, Nvidia's business does not change overnight. Its chips, its orders and its data-centre customers are the same today as they were yesterday. The products keep shipping and the services built on them keep running.
But the company now has an interim leader and an open search at the top, and that uncertainty is exactly what markets dislike. The real impact depends on how long the search takes and who gets the job.
For businesses, the message is simple: if your company uses cloud computing or AI tools built on Nvidia hardware, nothing changes right now. Your services keep running. The risk is longer term. A drawn-out succession fight, or a change in strategy under a new chief executive, could slow down product decisions and chip supply.
For gamers and PC buyers, some people online hoped graphics card prices might fall. There is no sign of that. Nvidia's product plans and pricing are set by the company, not by one person, and no price change has been announced.
For the wider AI industry, the stakes are bigger. Huang was more than a chief executive. He personally backed AI startups with Nvidia's money, helped them find customers and even joined their fundraising calls. His departure raises questions about whether the AI ecosystem he helped build can keep growing at the same pace without him, and the choice of his successor will shape the industry's direction for years.
What happens next
The board is searching for a permanent chief executive, considering both internal and external candidates. Names mentioned in reports include Ian Buck, who runs Nvidia's hardware and software products for large-scale AI, and Rene Haas, chief executive of chip designer Arm.
US President Donald Trump suggested former Apple chief executive Tim Cook for the job on social media. There is no sign that Nvidia has chosen Cook, or anyone else, yet.
The next big date is Tuesday 17 November, when Nvidia publishes its third-quarter results. Investors will be watching for reassurance that the business is steady under Kress, and for any hint about the permanent appointment.
The board's investigation into the foreign-intelligence questions also continues, and US lawmakers have pressed for answers about whether sensitive information was compromised. Nvidia has said it has no reason to believe any secrets were compromised.
Huang built Nvidia into the company at the centre of the AI boom, and his exit is the biggest leadership change in tech this year. The chips will keep shipping and the data centres will keep running. The next few weeks, the earnings report and the name of the next chief executive, will tell us whether this is a bump in the road or a turning point.
