Nvidia said on Thursday that Colette Kress, the company’s chief financial officer, would be the company’s interim chief executive officer, following the resignation of its longtime leader, Jensen Huang, who admitted to an extramarital affair with a businesswoman U.S. intelligence agencies believe to be a spy for China.
“The board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team,” said Harvey C. Jones, the newly named chair of Nvidia’s board of directors in a statement. “We expect the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption.”
In a note to Nvidia’s employees, Ms. Kress said she believed “deeply in this company” and called its employees “our greatest strength.” She said Nvidia would have a companywide meeting on Nov. 18 to discuss its future.
She will remain Nvidia’s chief financial officer while serving as its interim chief executive officer until the board names a permanent successor. The board said on Thursday that it had started a search for that replacement and would consider internal and external candidates. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ms. Kress, who joined Nvidia in 2013, is leading the company as it enters an uncertain next chapter. Under the leadership of Mr. Huang, Nvidia grew from a niche maker of computer chips used for video games to one of the most valuable public companies in the world and the linchpin of the artificial intelligence boom. Nvidia controls an estimated 90 percent of the market for the chips used in the big A.I. projects that are driving the U.S. economy.
Ms. Kress, 59, faces a challenging road. She is temporarily taking over a company that has been tightly controlled by her predecessor. Mr. Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and had managed all aspects of its business with a flat structure that placed him at the center of its day-to-day operations.
