Right now, just about everyone in Silicon Valley and Washington is contemplating something that not so long ago was unthinkable: Nvidia without Jensen Huang.
Huang will be remembered in many ways: as an innovator, a savvy and sometimes cutthroat entrepreneur, a charismatic leader, a political confidante—and now, as a philanderer and disgraced ex-CEO who may very well have jeopardized national security by being honeypotted by a suspected Chinese spy. His resignation on Thursday, following reports of multiple extramarital affairs, has plunged the company he cofounded over thirty years ago and turned into a financial powerhouse into disarray. Nvidia shares plunged by 14% Thursday morning, erasing around $601 billion in value. And though the shares have since recovered somewhat, the chipmaker’s future—and by extension, that of the entire tech industry—is very much up in the air. What’s not uncertain is this: his successor has a difficult road ahead of her.
Nvidia’s board of directors announced Thursday morning that Colette Kress, the company’s longtime chief financial officer, would replace Huang as interim CEO. She’ll continue in her role as CFO and executive vice president until a permanent successor to Huang has been named, according to the board, which added that the company would be vetting both internal and external candidates for the role.
