Jensen Huang built the company that powers AI. Now Nvidia must find a way forward without him

Detailed summary

The Nvidia CEO's departure sets off a scramble to find a permanent replacement to lead the multitrillion-dollar colossus.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned Thursday, capping a spectacular downfall for a poster boy of the artificial intelligence boom whose exit following reports of extramarital affairs now thrusts the chipmaker into an uncertain future.

After a dizzying series of headlines about Huang’s infidelity and ties to an alleged Chinese spy, his departure sets off a scramble to find a permanent replacement to lead the multitrillion-dollar colossus that grew from obscurity to a perch between Apple and Microsoft at the top of the S&P index.

The resignation sent shares of Nvidia plummeting 14% at the opening bell, before stabilizing. The stock was down about 4% around midday Thursday as investors pondered the lawsuits, investigations, likely corporate jockeying and the resilience of a market driven by the gains of a few tech giants.

“Huang’s departure introduces uncertainty well beyond the company itself,” said Asa Hiken, senior analyst for research firm eMarketer, reflecting fears of wider implications and the possibility of an AI bubble.

The company named Colette Kress, the executive vice president and chief financial officer, as interim chief executive. She became CFO in 2013, overseeing the company’s global finance operations. Before that, she worked for three years at Cisco and spent 13 years at Microsoft.

Nvidia had no succession plan to prepare for the possibility of the departure of Huang, who was synonymous with Nvidia for more than 30 years in much the same way Steve Jobs embodied Apple. Nvidia said its board would consider internal and external candidates to replace him.

In a statement Thursday, Kress said that Nvidia’s “strength has always come from its people” and that she was “committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years.”

The board of directors said Thursday it had also named its first-ever chairman, Harvey C. Jones, an entrepreneur and venture investor.

Huang, 63, is one of the world’s wealthiest people, with a personal fortune…

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