Jensen Huang resigned from the positions of president and CEO of NVIDIA and left the board of directors.

This is stated in the company's official statement.

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress has become the interim CEO. She will combine her new duties with her primary role as CFO until the company appoints Huang's successor.

Against the backdrop of news about Huang's departure from his position, NVIDIA shares fell 10% in earlier trading in the US. Even the day before, after reports of Huang's possible dismissal, they lost 8.6% in after-hours trading. These are figures from different trading sessions.

Colette Kress joined NVIDIA in September 2013 and has led its finance function since then. Before that, Kress worked for nearly 25 years in finance positions at technology companies, including Cisco and Microsoft.

The board of directors also elected its chairman for the first time — Harvey Jones became its head. He has over 30 years of experience as an entrepreneur, technology executive, and venture investor, including leading Synopsys.

According to Jones, the board of directors trusts Cress and the management team and expects the company to continue operations, meet obligations to clients, and develop products without interruption.

At the same time, the company's board of directors has begun searching for a permanent leader among candidates both within and outside the company.

What preceded Jensen Huang's resignation

NVIDIA has launched an independent investigation following reports that Huang could become a target of Chinese intelligence. It concerned his connections with Alice Huang, who previously worked at Singapore's Megaspeed — a company that purchased NVIDIA chips.

American intelligence agencies suspected that she might have been collecting information about NVIDIA and its CEO's contacts with the US administration regarding chip exports to China. In an address to employees, Jensen Huang admitted that he had been unfaithful to his wife and asked for forgiveness from his family, colleagues, and partners.

At the start of the investigation, NVIDIA stated that it had no reason to believe that its trade secrets or information related to US national security had been disclosed. At that time, the board of directors also expressed confidence in Huang and his team, and he himself promised to cooperate with the investigators.