Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive, resigned on Thursday after revelations that he had an affair with an executive who reported to him as well as with a woman whom U.S. officials had identified as a Chinese spy.
The chip company’s 10-member board met for several hours Wednesday evening and agreed to name Colette Kress, the company’s chief financial officer, as interim chief executive, until a permanent successor has been named. The board said on Thursday that it would begin a search for a permanent replacement and would consider internal and external candidates.
Nvidia also appointed Harvey Jones, a longtime tech entrepreneur and investor, as the chip company’s chairman. In a statement, Mr. Jones said that the board was confident in Ms. Kress and the executive team and that it expected “the company’s operations, customer commitments and product road map to continue without interruption.”
Mr. Huang’s exit opens an uncertain chapter for Nvidia, the premier maker of artificial intelligence chips, and will have widespread ripple effects. The Silicon Valley firm is a linchpin of the A.I. boom and one of the world’s most valuable public companies, controlling an estimated 90 percent of the market for the computer chips used in the big A.I. projects that are driving the U.S. economy.
That dominance has made Mr. Huang one of the world’s wealthiest people, as well as an ally of President Trump’s. Mr. Trump was previously informed about Mr. Huang’s relationship with the woman believed to be a Chinese intelligence asset but took no action. He has defended Mr. Huang over the past week, saying he was an “honorable man” who did not know the woman was a Chinese agent.
Few Silicon Valley executives — with the possible exception of Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, and Steve Jobs of Apple — have been as synonymous with their companies as Mr. Huang, 63. He was a founder of Nvidia in 1993. He manages all aspects of its business as chief executive, and his family members have steadily risen through the company’s ranks. With a 3.56 percent stake, he is also Nvidia’s largest individual shareholder. He has had such a tight grip on the company that there is no clear successor.
“Jensen is very much the command and control,” said Patrick Moorhead, the founder of Moor Insights & Strategy, a technology research firm. “Just like nobody replaced Steve Jobs and ran the company like him, nobody can replace Jensen. There has to be a different operating system.”
Any fallout may widen because Nvidia has also pumped money into A.I. start-ups, cloud companies, data centers and other chip suppliers. With Mr. Huang as the ringleader, the company spread its tentacles across the A.I. industry and put itself at the epicenter.
Public scrutiny of Mr. Huang began after The New York Times first reported last month that American intelligence agencies had discovered that he had developed a close relationship with a Chinese citizen and chip buyer, who U.S. officials concluded was gathering intelligence for Beijing.
The chip buyer was Alice Huang or Huang Le, whose biography said she worked in China as a TV reporter before becoming a top executive at a Singapore-based data center company called Megaspeed that had become one of Nvidia’s biggest customers in Southeast Asia. Megaspeed has bought more than $4.8 billion in chips since June 2024.
The relationship raised questions of U.S. national security, given that the U.S. government had barred Chinese companies from buying the advanced chips. It also stoked geopolitical concerns as the United States and China compete for dominance in A.I.
China has denied the espionage claims. Ms. Huang has not responded to requests for comment.
Nvidia’s board has largely been supportive of Mr. Huang, who is also on the board. The other members include outside executives and the company’s early investors and longtime partners. They have served on the board for a combined 161 years, and many have a long history with Mr. Huang.
But after The Financial Times reported last week that Mr. Huang’s relationship with Ms. Huang was romantic, Nvidia’s board said on Sunday that it was opening an investigation into his conduct. It hired the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to help lead its investigation.
That same day, Mr. Huang admitted that he had been unfaithful to his wife, Lori Huang, to whom he has been married for 41 years. He said he was “proud and grateful to be an American” and apologized for his behavior.
“My family bears no responsibility for my choices — I do,” he said in a message to Nvidia employees. “Please give them privacy.” His two children, Madison and Spencer, also work at the company.
Mr. Huang’s acknowledgment of the affair and the company’s investigation immediately set off a firestorm. Nvidia’s shares are down about a third from their peak at the start of October, a decline of more than $1.5 trillion in market value.
On Wednesday, The Times reported that Mr. Huang also had an extramarital relationship with Kimberly Powell, an Nvidia vice president who reports to him. Under Nvidia’s code of conduct, employees are told to “avoid situations where our actions create conflict” including “personal relationships,” and the company says that it “promptly investigates reports of misconduct.” Many corporations have policies prohibiting managers from having relationships with subordinates.
Mr. Huang and Ms. Powell, 48, were captured on video being affectionate at a San Jose, Calif., hotel during an Nvidia conference in March. Ms. Powell, who is married, has not responded to requests for comment.
After The Times approached Nvidia on Wednesday about the second affair, the board began deliberating about Mr. Huang’s future at the company.
Ms. Kress is an Nvidia veteran who joined the company 13 years ago. She previously worked at Microsoft and Cisco. In a note to employees on Thursday, she said she believed “deeply in this company” and each of its employees.
“This company has achieved so much because of the work that all of you bring to it every single day,” Ms. Kress said. “You are our greatest strength” She added that there would be a company meeting on Wednesday to discuss its future.
Nvidia reports its next quarterly earnings on Tuesday.
Kalley Huang contributed reporting.
