Jensen Huang Resigns as Nvidia CEO Over Affair With Suspected Chinese Spy; CFO Colette Kress Named Interim Chief

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 13 (TodayViralUSA) — Jensen Huang, the co-founder who built Nvidia into the most important company of the artificial intelligence boom, has resigned as chief executive, the chipmaker said Thursday, after revelations that he had an extramarital affair with a woman U.S. intelligence officials reportedly suspect of working for Chinese intelligence.

Nvidia’s board said Huang stepped down as president, CEO and director effective immediately. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO while keeping her finance role, and the board will consider internal and external candidates for a permanent successor.

A scandal that unfolded over a year

The woman at the center of the case, Alice Huang, is a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed International, an Nvidia cloud partner that bought billions of dollars’ worth of the company’s chips and servers. The two are not related. Jensen Huang acknowledged an affair but did not name her.

The New York Times first linked the pair in October 2025, and later reports said U.S. intelligence officials believed she was acting on behalf of Beijing. China has denied she is a spy, and Attorney General Todd Blanche said Thursday the Justice Department has not reached a conclusion on the question, Reuters reported. The Times also reported this week that Huang had relationships with Nvidia employees.

Megaspeed, which has faced allegations that it helped move restricted Nvidia chips into China, said Thursday it has complied with U.S. law, according to CBS News.

Markets and Washington react

Nvidia shares fell as much as 16% after the announcement before recovering to close down 4.3%, NBC News reported. Reports surrounding Huang have erased roughly $500 billion of the company’s market value this week. Rivals AMD and Broadcom each rose about 6%.

The departure carries political weight. Huang was a close adviser to President Donald Trump and traveled with him to Beijing in May. The Times reported that Trump urged Huang in a call on Tuesday to fight for his job. Lawmakers from both parties have since called for tighter limits on China’s access to advanced AI chips, and Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott has asked Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify next month.

Who leads next

Kress, who joined Nvidia in 2013 after nearly 25 years in finance roles at Cisco and Microsoft, said she was committed to “building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years.” The board also named former Synopsys chief Harvey C. Jones as its first-ever chair.

Analysts quoted by CBS News expect a broad search. Names floated include Nvidia executive Ian Buck, Arm CEO Rene Haas, AMD CEO Lisa Su and Apple executive chairman Tim Cook. Nvidia said it will report third-quarter results as scheduled on Tuesday, Nov. 17.