Nvidia co-founder Jensen Huang resigned immediately as president, CEO and board member on Nov. 12, and the board appointed finance chief Colette Kress interim CEO while it searches for a permanent replacement.
Kress will keep her finance-chief duties while leading the company, the board said. The board will consider internal and external candidates for the permanent position. The board also named director Harvey C. Jones its first-ever chair.
Kress joined Nvidia in 2013 after nearly 25 years in finance roles at Cisco, Microsoft and other technology companies. The company’s announcement offered no explanation for Huang’s departure. It said the CEO search is underway.
His departure comes amid recent media reports about alleged personal relationships. The reports included an alleged personal relationship involving a businesswoman whom U.S. officials reportedly suspect of having ties to Chinese intelligence. The reports have drawn scrutiny.
Nvidia’s announcement did not say that the reports prompted Huang’s resignation. Nvidia said its planned quarterly results announcement would go ahead as scheduled on Nov. 17.