Jensen Huang Resigns as Nvidia CEO and Leaves Board; Filing Gives No Reason and Discloses No Severance Deal

Nvidia Corp. said Thursday that co-founder Jensen Huang has resigned as president, chief executive and a member of its board of directors, effective immediately, ending a 33-year run atop the chipmaker after a week of reports about his personal conduct. The Digital Free Press read the company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, its press release and its 2026 proxy statement.

Shares of Nvidia were down about 11% in premarket trading Thursday, at $153.88 as of 9:12 a.m. ET, according to Yahoo Finance data, compared with Wednesday's close of $173.73.

What the Filing Says

In a Form 8-K filed at 8:52 a.m. ET on Thursday, Nvidia said that on Nov. 11 its board "accepted the resignation of Jen-Hsun Huang, as NVIDIA's President, Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board, effective immediately." The filing uses the word "resignation" and does not say whether the board asked Huang to step down. It gives no reason for his departure.

The board named Colette Kress, 59, Nvidia's chief financial officer since 2013, as interim CEO "while the Board conducts a search for a new Chief Executive Officer." Kress will keep the CFO job while she serves as interim CEO, and the company said it will consider internal and external candidates. The board also named Harvey C. Jones, 73, a director since 1993, as chair. The press release calls him Nvidia's "first-ever Chair of the Board"; the 2026 proxy statement listed Stephen C. Neal as lead director and no chair.

The 8-K does not disclose any separation or severance agreement, and it does not describe any payment to Huang. Nvidia's 2026 proxy statement says its executive officers are "at-will" employees and that the company does not "have employment, severance, or change-in-control agreements" with them. The proxy also listed 1,411,679 unvested stock units held by Huang as of Jan. 25, 2026. The 8-K does not say what happens to them.

"The Board and the company thank Jensen for his immeasurable contributions to the company and the industry," the press release said. Jones said the board has "full confidence" in Kress and expects operations, customer commitments and the product roadmap "to continue without interruption."

From 'Confidence' to Resignation in Four Days

The resignation came four days after the board publicly backed Huang. In a Nov. 8 statement, the board said it was opening an independent investigation "in light of recent reporting" that Huang "has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort." It said it had "no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised" and that it "has confidence in Jensen and his leadership team."

The same day, Huang wrote in a letter to employees posted by the company: "I was unfaithful to my wife." He said he supported the investigation. On Nov. 10, the independent directors said they had hired former acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to run it. Neither the 8-K nor the press release says whether that investigation will continue.

On Nov. 11, Axios reported that The New York Times had reported a second extramarital relationship involving Huang, with a senior Nvidia executive. That evening, The Wall Street Journal reported that the board was preparing to remove him, and Reuters reported that the board was meeting to decide his future.

What Huang Owns

The 2026 proxy statement listed Huang as the beneficial owner of 870,604,104 Nvidia shares, or 3.58% of the company, as of March 23, 2026. At Thursday's premarket price, that stake would be worth about $134 billion, down from about $162 billion at the Nov. 6 close, by TDFP's calculation. His holdings may have changed since the proxy date.

Using the 24.1 billion shares Nvidia reported outstanding in its latest quarterly report, the company's market value fell from about $4.50 trillion at the Nov. 6 close to about $3.71 trillion at Thursday's premarket price, a drop of roughly $790 billion this week, by TDFP's calculation.

Nvidia said it will report third-quarter results on Nov. 17 as scheduled.

Sources: Nvidia Form 8-K, filed Nov. 12, 2026 (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1045810/000104581026000082/nvda-20261111.htm); Nvidia press release, "NVIDIA Announces CEO Transition," Nov. 12, 2026 (https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-ceo-transition); Statement From NVIDIA Board of Directors, Nov. 8, 2026 (https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/statement-from-nvidia-board-of-directors); Jensen Huang, "A Message to Our Company," Nov. 8, 2026 (https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/a-message-to-our-company); Statement From the Independent Members of the NVIDIA Board, Nov. 10, 2026 (https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/statement-from-the-independent-members-of-the-nvidia-board); Nvidia 2026 proxy statement (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1045810/000104581026000036/nvda-20260512.htm); Nvidia Form 10-Q, filed Aug. 26, 2026 (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1045810/000104581026000075/nvda-20260726.htm); The Wall Street Journal (https://www.wsj.com/business/nvidia-is-preparing-to-oust-nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-30f421ad); Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/technology/nvidia-is-preparing-oust-ceo-jensen-huang-wsj-reports-2026-11-11/); Axios (https://www.axios.com/2026/11/11/nvidia-jensen-huang-affair-shares); Yahoo Finance NVDA quote data (https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/NVDA/). Cover photo: Jensen Huang, by Maurizio Pesce, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nvidia_CEO_Jensen_Huang_gestikuliert.jpg).