On Sunday the board said it had full confidence in Jensen Huang. By Thursday morning he was gone. Nvidia announced at about 9:00 a.m. Eastern on November 12, 2026 that its co-founder had resigned as president, chief executive and director, effective immediately.
The company gave no reason. Its chief financial officer, Colette Kress, became interim CEO while keeping the CFO role, and long-serving director Harvey C. Jones became Nvidia’s first-ever board chair. “The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team,” Jones said in the announcement.
How the week unfolded
Before the week began. The New York Times reported on October 29 on Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang (no relation), an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed. On November 6 it reported a US intelligence memo saying Chinese intelligence had recruited her to spy on him, and on November 7 the Financial Times reported the memo described the relationship as romantic. ABC News has reported that President Trump was briefed on the relationship in 2025 and again in May 2026.
Sunday, November 8. Huang emailed staff admitting he had been unfaithful to his wife, without naming anyone. The board opened an independent inquiry into whether he had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort, said it had no reason to believe secrets were compromised, and kept him on. Our story from that day.
Monday, November 9. China’s foreign ministry called the spy allegation unsubstantiated. Nvidia shares closed down more than 4%.
Tuesday, November 10. The board said it had hired the law firm Wachtell Lipton. House Foreign Affairs chair Brian Mast told ABC he would subpoena Huang if he refused a closed-door briefing.
Wednesday, November 11. The New York Times reported a relationship between Huang and Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of health care, who reports to him. The Wall Street Journal reported the board was preparing to remove him. The board met into the evening, and shares fell more than 8% in after-hours trading, according to CNBC and CNN.
Thursday, November 12. Nvidia announced the resignation. Later that day Reuters, citing two sources, reported an intimate relationship with a second, unnamed Nvidia employee; Nvidia declined to comment. The Times reported that Huang had hired the law firm Paul Weiss, and an investor class action was filed. Shares fell as much as 13% to 16% during the day, depending on the measure, before closing down 4.3%.
Friday, November 13. Reuters reported that in October Huang had told senior Nvidia leaders, including the general counsel, that his contacts with Alice Huang were ordinary customer dealings. His representative declined to comment. HSBC cut its rating to hold. Nvidia closed below a $4 trillion market value for the first time since July 2025, down 12.75% for the week and more than 30% below its October peak, according to CNBC and Reuters.
What is confirmed, reported and denied
| Claim | Status |
|---|---|
| Huang was unfaithful to his wife | Confirmed by Huang (staff email, Nov 8) |
| Board investigating foreign intelligence reports | Confirmed by Nvidia’s board |
| Huang resigned; Kress interim CEO; Jones chair | Confirmed by Nvidia and its SEC filing |
| The reason for the resignation | Not stated by Nvidia |
| Relationship with Alice Huang | Reported by the NYT, FT and Reuters; Huang did not name her |
| Alice Huang recruited by Chinese intelligence | Reported as a US intelligence assessment; denied by China; CNN reports intelligence agencies are not certain |
| Relationship with Kimberly Powell | Reported by the NYT; not confirmed or denied; Powell did not respond |
| Relationship with a second employee | Reported by Reuters (two sources); Nvidia declined to comment |
| Huang misled company leaders | Reported by Reuters; his representative declined to comment |
We found no public statement from Alice Huang, Kimberly Powell or the unnamed employee.
Washington’s reaction
The story has split along unusual lines. House committee chairs want Huang to brief or testify, and Rep. Mast said he would appear before Thanksgiving, though we found no confirmation from Huang. Sen. Tim Scott asked him to testify on December 3. Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Richard Neal opened a probe into the administration’s chip-export approvals. President Trump, who had praised Huang and reportedly urged him to stay, suggested on Truth Social that Apple’s Tim Cook should replace him.
What happens next
- November 17: Nvidia reports third-quarter results, with Kress leading the call. What to watch.
- Congress: briefings and possible testimony on the national security questions.
- The board’s inquiry: led by independent directors with Wachtell Lipton, now continuing without Huang in the company.
- A permanent CEO: Nvidia has not named a successor or said how it will search.
Why it matters
Huang wasn’t just a chief executive. He co-founded Nvidia in 1993, owns roughly 3.6% of it, according to Fortune, and personally embodied its strategy, from CUDA to the AI boom. His departure removes the person most associated with the company at the moment it sits at the centre of US-China technology policy. For customers, the products and roadmap haven’t changed this week. The open questions are about leadership, the export relationship with China and how long the investigations run.
Sources
- Nvidia: NVIDIA announces CEO transition (Nov 12, 2026)
- SEC: Nvidia Form 8-K exhibit, CEO transition (Nov 12, 2026)
- CNBC: Nvidia board meeting on Jensen Huang stretches into evening (Nov 11, 2026)
- CNBC: Nvidia and Jensen Huang live updates (Nov 12, 2026)
- Reuters via BNN Bloomberg: Former Nvidia CEO Huang had a relationship with a second employee, sources say (Nov 13, 2026)
- Reuters via HuffPost: Huang misled Nvidia leaders about relationship, sources say (Nov 13, 2026)
- ABC News: Timeline of the stunning fall of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (Nov 12, 2026)
- CNBC: Nvidia stock after Jensen Huang transition (Nov 13, 2026)
- NBC News: Nvidia stock falls after Huang resigns (Nov 12, 2026)
We link every claim to the reporting or official statement it comes from. Where a detail rests on one outlet’s reporting, we say so. Spotted an error? Reply to any newsletter and we’ll correct it.