Jensen Huang resigns as President and CEO of Nvidia; stock plunges 10%

NVIDIA shares plunged 10% in the pre-market session on Thursday after its CEO and founder Jensen Huang resigned on Thursday over his alleged affair with a Chinese spy. The board announced a major transition as Colette Kress, who is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, will now replace Jensen Huang as the CEO

The company’s official press release read, “Board of Directors announced today that Jensen Huang has resigned as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board, effective immediately.”

Kress has served the company for more than a decade, since she joined in September 2013 and currently served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to this she held leadership positions in finance roles at leading technology companies like Cisco and Microsoft.

Besides this, the board of directors also appointed Harvey C Jones as its first-ever Chair of the Board. Mr Jones has over three decades of experience in technology. He has been an active investors for over 30 years, including serving as the chief executive officer and executive chairman of Synopsys

After being appointed as the interim CEO, Colette Kress express her thoughts, saying , “Nvidia’s strength has always come from its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 year”.

What does this mean for the AI industry?

Jensen Huang has given monumental contribution in the AI industry and has placed Nvidia at the top of the pyramid in the AI theme. His exit remains a setback for the company until things come back on track. The large question now looms with the investors, on what happens to the planned AI buildout and expansions initiated by Jensen Huang. Investor sentiment remains cautious for the overall AI industry, which continues to face sectoral headwinds.