Jensen Huang resigns as Nvidia chief amid national security probe

The company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that its board accepted Huang’s resignation on Wednesday. Kress will hold the interim role while continuing as CFO, as Nvidia begins a broader search for a permanent successor. Harvey C. Jones, a managing partner at Square Wave Ventures and former Synopsys CEO, was appointed the board’s first chair. Jones has served on Nvidia’s board since 1993.

The leadership change followed a Wall Street Journal report that Nvidia’s board planned to discuss Huang’s future. The company’s shares fell about 8% in after-hours trading on Nov. 11 and were down 11% over five days. The New York Times had reported that Huang had an affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of health care, who reports directly to him. Nvidia, Huang and Powell did not confirm the report. The Times said five former Nvidia employees were among its sources and reported that Huang declined to speak with its reporter.

The allegations have drawn scrutiny because of Huang’s reported relationship with Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive whom U.S. officials suspect of passing information to Beijing. Alice Huang is a Chinese citizen and is not related to Jensen Huang. Megaspeed, a Singapore-based AI infrastructure firm, has been investigated by U.S. and Singaporean authorities over suspected export violations. The Justice Department later took over the U.S. investigation, the Times reported.

Huang acknowledged infidelity in a Nov. 8 letter to Nvidia employees, apologizing to his family and colleagues. He did not name Alice Huang, but referred to national security concerns raised in news reports. He said Nvidia’s board had opened an independent investigation and that he would cooperate. Three Republican committee chairmen had requested a closed-door briefing with Huang; Rep. John Moolenaar said he could be subpoenaed if he did not agree.

Earlier reporting traced the scrutiny to investigations of Megaspeed dating to 2025, when authorities suspected the company of helping Chinese firms obtain restricted Nvidia chips. Reports also described Alice Huang and her family as building a network of businesses to acquire chips, and said a company she founded became an Nvidia-preferred cloud partner. Nvidia has said it had no reason to believe its products were diverted and that Megaspeed was operating a commercial cloud within U.S. export-control rules.