Who is Colette Kress, Nvidia’s new interim CEO?

Jensen Huang has resigned as CEO of chipmaker Nvidia. He has been replaced by Colette Kress as interim CEO. She has served as the company's executive vice president and chief financial officer (CFO) since joining the company in September 2013.

Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang founded the company 33 years ago. Under his leadership, the company became a $4 trillion company.

The board of directors announced Colette Kress as the new CEO on Thursday (November 12) after news of Huang's resignation was released.

Nvidia's board of directors met after reports emerged about Huang's relationship with company executive Kimberly Powell. Earlier, news of his relationship with another woman, Alice Huang, who was accused of spying for China, was revealed. The board hired a law firm to investigate the incident.

Announcing the resignation and new appointments, Chairman of the Board Harvey Jones said, "The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team. We expect the company's operations, commitment to customers and product development plans to continue without interruption."

After taking on the new role, Colette Kress said she was committed to continuing the company's progress, building on the "extraordinary foundation" built by Jensen Huang.

"NVIDIA's strength has always been its people," he said after being appointed as interim CEO. "Together with the leadership team, we are committed to building on the extraordinary foundation that Jensen has built over the past 33 years. We will continue to lead NVIDIA in the areas of accelerated computing and artificial intelligence (AI). We will also seize the opportunities that lie ahead. Our primary focus will be on serving our customers, partners, developers, and shareholders."

Who is this Colette Cress?

Colette Kress, 59, served as Nvidia's executive vice president and chief financial officer before taking on the new role. She joined the semiconductor company in September 2013 and has been the company's chief financial officer for more than 13 years. She is one of the most familiar faces to Nvidia investors after co-founder and recently resigned CEO Jensen Huang.

Huang praised Kress's professional experience and financial acumen when he hired her in 2013. "He joins Nvidia with extraordinary experience, financial management skills, and deep industry knowledge," he said.

He also described Cress as an important addition to the company's efforts to further strengthen its leadership in visual computing, mobile technology, and cloud computing.

Kress has strong academic credentials in finance. He holds a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Arizona and a master's degree in business administration (MBA) from Southern Methodist University.

A large portion of his career has been spent in financial management, corporate planning, business operations, and various organizations in the technology sector.

What did you do before joining Nvidia?

Before joining Nvidia, Kress worked for several major US technology companies. He began his career at Texas Instruments, where he spent eight years in various financial positions.

He then joined Microsoft in 1997. While working at the company for 13 years, he held various responsibilities in the corporate finance and planning department.

One of his key responsibilities at Microsoft was as Chief Financial Officer of the Servers and Tools Division, a position he held for four years from 2006. During this time, he was responsible for financial strategy, planning, reporting, and business development activities.

Kress joined Cisco Systems in 2010, where he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Business Technology and Operations Finance Division for three years.

According to a Fortune report published in 2024, he spent nearly 25 years in finance at various top technology companies before joining Nvidia. Kress told the publication that it was the smallest company he had worked for when he joined Nvidia in 2013.

According to a report by US media outlet Reuters, Kress is ranked 32nd on Forbes' list of the richest self-made women in the US for 2026.

 Source: Firstpost