Meet CFO Colette Kress, possible replacement for CEO Jensen Huang at Nvidia

Detailed summary

While Nvidia's chief financial officer Colette Kress and vice-president Ian Buck seem to be top contenders, eight executives outside the chip-making giant are emerging as potential names to watch if the chipmaker has to find a replacement for its long-time leader.

Nvidia's search for a possible successor to Jensen Huang could extend well beyond the company's own leadership team. While Nvidia's chief financial officer Colette Kress and vice-president Ian Buck seem to be top contenders, eight executives outside the chip-making giant are emerging as potential names to watch if the chipmaker has to find a replacement for its long-time leader.

According to a Bloomberg report, Nvidia has tapped an outside firm to identify potential candidates following reports of multiple extramarital relationships involving Huang. The search could prove challenging for the world's most valuable chipmaker, given how closely its strategy, technology direction and business relationships have been shaped by its co-founder.

Among the eight names identified by Bloomberg are executives from Nvidia, Arm, AMD, Apple, Amazon and Google. Buck and Kress are two of the most prominent internal names, while the list also includes leaders who run major technology and semiconductor businesses outside Nvidia.

Nvidia's board met on Wednesday to discuss Huang's future, but has not announced any decision regarding the company's longtime CEO, reported The New York Times.

The development comes amid growing uncertainty over Huang's future. Nvidia's board is examining the controversy surrounding the CEO, while investors are also weighing the potential consequences of losing a leader who has run the company since co-founding it in 1993.

Kress is Nvidia's executive vice-president and chief financial officer. She joined the company in September 2013 and is among its best-known executives after Huang, particularly among investors.

Before joining Nvidia, she spent three years as senior vice-president and CFO of Cisco's Business Technology and Operations Finance organisation. She also spent 13 years at Microsoft, including four years as CFO of its Server and Tools division. Earlier in her career, she held finance roles at Texas Instruments.

Her experience managing the finances of…

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