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Nvidia Names Colette Kress Interim CEO
· Confirmed
In Short: Nvidia has appointed Colette Kress as interim CEO following Jensen Huang's sudden resignation.
Who Is NVIDIA’s New Interim CEO, Colette Kress?. Inside Edition
Colette Kress, Nvidia's chief financial officer, has been named interim CEO after Jensen Huang's resignation, according to reports from CNBC and Voanews.
Dallas Innovates and CNBC both report that Kress, an 13-year Nvidia veteran, will serve as interim CEO, executive vice president, and CFO while the board searches for a permanent successor.
Kress's appointment comes at a time of considerable uncertainty for Nvidia, as noted by CTech and CNBC. Questions surround Huang's departure, Nvidia's investment strategy, and the sustainability of the AI boom.
According to CNBC and Dallas Innovates, Kress previously held high positions at tech firms like Cisco and Microsoft, bringing extensive experience to her new role.
In a statement, Kress emphasized Nvidia's strength lies in its people and her commitment to building on the foundation Huang created over 33 years, as reported by NBC Bay Area and NVIDIA Newsroom.
Fox Business and CNBC report that Kress's Nvidia shares were valued at roughly $750 million following the leadership shakeup.
Voanews and CNBC highlight the potential federal and congressional investigations into Nvidia's dealings with China, which Kress will now have to address.
The New York Post reports that Kress had a tense relationship with Huang, including a meeting this summer where Huang called her a 'deer in the headlights,' according to a report.
Tech Funding News and marketech apac note that Kress will retain her CFO responsibilities alongside her interim CEO role until a permanent appointment is made.
Nvidia's board of directors announced the leadership change on November 12, as reported by Marketech-Apac and Kwxx.
Experts like Gary Marcus, as quoted by NPR, suggest that Nvidia's complex business model and its role in AI could face scrutiny under Kress's leadership.
Despite disagreements on the specifics of Kress's relationship with Huang and the exact value of her shares, all publications agree that Kress's extensive experience and leadership skills make her a strong interim CEO for Nvidia.
What this adds
The appointment of Colette Kress as interim CEO highlights the need for a steady hand at Nvidia during a period of significant uncertainty.
Background
Nvidia has appointed Colette Kress as interim CEO following Jensen Huang's sudden resignation.
What's confirmed
- Colette Kress is chief financial officer at Nvidia Colette Kress has been an industry veteran for more than 30 years, having previously held high positions at tech firms like Cisco and Microsoft.
- Nvidia Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress, a 13-year company veteran, is taking the helm of the world's most valuable chipmaker on an interim basis after Jensen Huang's sudden resignation.
- "NVIDIA's strength has always come from its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years," Kress said in Thursday's statement.
- Before joining Silicon Valley-based Nvidia in 2013, Kress was senior vice president and CFO of the business technology and operations finance unit at Cisco.
- The Santa Clara-based company said that Colette Kress — who has been Nvidia’s chief financial officer and executive vice president since 2013 — will step into the role of interim CEO.
- Nvidia’s interim CEO Colette Kress had a volatile relationship with ousted CEO Jensen Huang -– including a tense meeting this summer where Huang called her a “deer in the headlights,” according to a report.
- — NVIDIA has announced the immediate resignation of Jensen Huang as President and Chief Executive Officer, with Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress appointed as interim CEO while the company searches for a permanent successor.
- Colette Kress, the company’s chief financial officer, will run Nvidia as interim CEO and keep her finance duties until directors choose a permanent replacement, according to a company filing.
- The chip maker says its longtime chief financial officer, Colette Kress, will serve as interim CEO while Nvidia’s board of directors searches for a permanent replacement.
- “The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team,” Jones said.
What's still developing
- When I first interviewed Kress in 2022, we discussed her previous roles at Cisco, Microsoft, and Texas Instruments, as well as how Nvidia attracted and retained employees.
- Prior to joining NVIDIA, Kress spent nearly 25 years in finance roles at leading technology companies, including Cisco and Microsoft.
- Kress and her staffers had pushed back on other deals that Huang and the company’s sales team were working on, including a proposed $250 billion plan to support an OpenAI data center project in Ohio.
- But who is Kress, and what does her appointment tell us about Nvidia’s next phase?
- “I don’t know if that’s been determined yet,” he said in an interview.
- Kress joined NVIDIA in September 2013 and has led its finance organisation throughout her tenure.
- Kress said she would focus on continuing the work established under Huang’s leadership and advancing NVIDIA’s position in accelerated computing and artificial intelligence.
- Kress, who also serves as Nvidia's executive vice-president, has seen the firm's transformation from making chips for video games in the early 1990s to becoming an AI semiconductor powerhouse.
- Chris Malachowsky is one of Nvidia's three co-founders Another option is Chris Malachowsky, who founded Nvidia alongside Huang and Curtis Priem, and is the only executive that shares the same level of seniority.
- Nvidia is likely to favour an internal appointment initially but could look externally for a more permanent replacement, said Jun Bei Liu, founder and lead portfolio manager at Ten Cap.
- Rene Haas is the boss of Arm Holdings Haas is familiar with leading a publicly-listed company and would bring semiconductor experience, though Nvidia's business model is considerably different from Arm's, said Chanana.
- Ray Wang, chief executive of Constellation Research, said the crisis isn't so much an issue for the wider AI industry but rather one for Nvidia itself which has to consider if the person it appoints as its chief executive has the same appeal as Huang.
Sources
- BBClink
- BetaNewslink
- CTechlink
- Cnbclink
- Dallasinnovateslink
- Democracy Now!link
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- Fox Businesslink
- Marketech-Apaclink
- NBC Bay Arealink
- NPRlink
- Nypostlink
- TechCrunchlink
- Techfundingnewslink
- Technologylink
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- Inside Edition — video link
- ThePrint — video link
- Bloomberg Tech — video link
- Stateside Pulse — video link
- Style / Substance by Laura K. Sawyier — video link
- NDTV Profit — video link