The company announced that Huang, 63, stepped down as president, chief executive, and board member effective immediately. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO while retaining her finance duties until a permanent successor is found. The board has initiated a search that will consider both internal and external candidates.

The resignation follows a board-ordered independent investigation into Huang's conduct, overseen by a committee of independent directors and outside counsel. On Tuesday, the board retained Joon H. Kim, former acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct the probe.

According to reports, U.S. intelligence services concluded that Huang had an affair with Alice Huang (no relation), an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, a company that purchased billions of dollars of Nvidia chips. The intelligence agencies reportedly believe she passed information to the Chinese government. The New York Times also reported that Huang had an affair with an Nvidia executive who reported directly to him.

In a Sunday email to employees, Huang apologized for being unfaithful to his wife. "There is no excuse for what I did," he wrote, taking full responsibility and pledging to cooperate with the investigation. He also requested privacy for his family.

The board had initially expressed confidence in Huang and said it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised, but the investigation was launched to examine all available information.

Financial markets reacted sharply. Nvidia stock closed Wednesday at $173.73 per share on Nasdaq but opened Thursday at $151.00, a nearly 13% drop, before beginning to recover. The company, one of the "Magnificent Seven" tech giants, is a key player in the AI industry.

Nvidia also announced that Harvey C. Jones, a veteran technology executive and venture investor, will serve as the first chair of its board, a newly created position. Jones previously served as CEO and executive chairman of Synopsys.

"Colette has helped lead Nvidia through a period of extraordinary growth and has a deep understanding of our business, customers, operations and financial position," Jones said in a statement. "The board has full confidence in her and the leadership team."

Kress, who joined Nvidia in 2013 after nearly 25 years in finance roles at Cisco and Microsoft, said she is committed to building on "the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years." She emphasized that the company's focus remains on serving customers, partners, developers, and shareholders.

President Donald Trump weighed in on social media, suggesting former Apple CEO Tim Cook should take the helm at Nvidia, calling it "A Legend to replace a Legend."

The leadership shakeup comes just days before Nvidia is scheduled to report its third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday, Nov. 17. The company said the earnings report and call will proceed as planned.

Huang, whose net worth is estimated at $148 billion, co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and built it into one of the most influential technology companies in the world, driving the AI revolution. His departure marks a stunning fall for one of Silicon Valley's most prominent figures.