Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao criticized Nvidia's decision to accept Jensen Huang's resignation on November 11. Zhao stated on social media that "it's a mistake for Nvidia to let Jensen resign."
Huang immediately left his positions as CEO, president, and board member. Nvidia's board opened an independent investigation into reported foreign intelligence efforts targeting Huang, citing concerns about U.S. national and economic security. The board expressed confidence in Huang at the time and stated they had no reason to believe national security or company secrets had been compromised.
Nvidia appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO while she retains her finance responsibilities. The board said it will consider internal and external candidates for a permanent chief executive. Harvey C. Jones, an Nvidia director since 1993, became the company's first board chair.
The resignation followed reports of Huang's affairs with Alice Huang, a former executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based cloud computing provider and Nvidia customer, and Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of health care. Huang apologized to employees on November 8 for being unfaithful to his wife. U.S. intelligence officials reportedly alleged that Alice Huang acted as a Chinese intelligence asset, an allegation Beijing denied.
Nvidia's stock declined approximately 5% on the day of the resignation announcement and has fallen more than 27% over the preceding month. The company maintained its scheduled November 17 fiscal 2027 third-quarter earnings release and earnings call.
