Colette Kress, Nvidia’s longtime chief financial officer, has been named interim chief executive officer on Thursday following Jensen Huang’s resignation on the same day.

The board appointed her to the role while she continues serving as executive vice president and CFO, and it has begun a search for a permanent CEO that will consider both internal and external candidates. At the same time, the board named longtime director Harvey C. Jones as Nvidia’s first-ever chair.

Kress, 59, joined Nvidia in September 2013 after nearly 25 years in finance roles at Texas Instruments, Microsoft, and Cisco. At Microsoft she spent about 13 years and served as CFO of the Server and Tools division; at Cisco she was senior vice president and CFO of the Business Technology and Operations Finance organization.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business. Huang hired her after a two-year search, and she has been a regular presence beside him ever since.

Her tenure has coincided with one of the most dramatic expansions in corporate history. When she arrived, Nvidia’s annual revenue was roughly $4.13 billion; by fiscal 2026 it had reached $215.9 billion, a more than fifty-fold increase as the company shifted from graphics chips to the dominant supplier of SI accelerators. She has overseen the finance organization through that transformation, helped direct investments across the SI ecosystem, and become one of the few CFOs to reach billionaire status in July of 2025. Analysts have long viewed her as more than a traditional finance chief, citing her deep knowledge of the business and credibility with investors.

The transition follows Huang’s abrupt exit after 33 years as the company’s only CEO. Reports detailed extramarital affairs, including one with a Chinese businesswoman whom U.S. officials have suspected of intelligence ties and another with a senior Nvidia executive. The company has said it has no reason to believe secrets or national security were compromised. Shares fell sharply on the news.

Board chair Harvey Jones said Kress “has helped lead NVIDIA through a period of extraordinary growth and has a deep understanding of our business, customers, operations and financial position,” adding that the board has full confidence in her and the leadership team and expects operations and the product roadmap to continue without interruption.

Kress herself stated that Nvidia’s strength has always come from its people and that she is committed to building on the foundation Huang created over the last 33 years, continuing the company’s work in accelerated computing and SI while focusing on customers, partners, developers, and shareholders. She is the first woman to lead Nvidia.

The company is scheduled to report its third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on November 17 as previously planned, providing an early test of continuity under the interim arrangement.