(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Lee Yu-mi = CEO Jensen Hwang of Nvidia, an American artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor company, suddenly resigned on the 12th (local time) amid a series of scandals, including suspicions of involvement in Chinese spies.
Nvidia's board of directors announced in a statement today that CEO Hwang will immediately resign from his position as president, CEO, and board member.
Although the board of directors used the word 'resign', it is interpreted that they effectively dismissed CEO Hwang, who was at the center of various controversies. Major economic media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and Bloomberg, also reported that Jensen Huang was dismissed (ousted).
The Board of Directors appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Vice President Kolles Kress as interim CEO.
In addition, it was announced that Harvey C. Jones was appointed as the company's first chairman of the board of directors.
Interim CEO Kress will serve as interim CEO until a formal successor is appointed, and will also hold the existing senior vice president and CFO positions.
The board of directors announced that it has begun a formal CEO appointment process targeting candidates from inside and outside the company.
Since joining NVIDIA in September 2013, Interim CEO Kress has overseen the finance department and played a key role in the company's growth. Previously, he worked in finance-related work at major technology companies such as Cisco and Microsoft for about 25 years.
“Together with our leadership, we will build on the excellent foundation that Jensen has built over the past 33 years,” said interim CEO Kress. “We will continue to advance the efforts that have made NVIDIA a leader in accelerated computing and AI.”
The new Chairman of the Board of Directors, Jones, has been active in corporate management and venture investment for more than 30 years, and served as CEO of Synopsis, a semiconductor design software company.
“The board has full confidence in Kress and the management team,” Jones said. “We expect the company’s operations, commitments to customers and product development plans to continue without disruption.”
Nvidia expressed its gratitude to CEO Hwang, saying he had "made an immeasurable contribution to the company and the industry," but did not disclose a specific reason for his resignation. It was not disclosed what role CEO Hwang will play in the future or what kind of relationship he will have with the company.
CEO Hwang co-founded NVIDIA in 1993 and led the company for 33 years, growing it into a leading company in the global AI semiconductor market.
Recently, CEO Hwang was embroiled in controversy after it was revealed that he had an affair with Alice Hwang, a former executive at Megaspeed, a Singaporean company suspected by U.S. intelligence authorities of being a Chinese spy.
In particular, while the U.S. authorities are investigating Megaspeed for suspicions that it exported Nvidia's cutting-edge AI semiconductors to China by circumventing U.S. export regulations to China, the U.S. Congress is also in full swing to find out the truth surrounding CEO Hwang's related allegations and the Trump administration's response to export controls.
In addition, the controversy spread further as it was reported that CEO Hwang had an extramarital affair with Kimberly Powell, vice president of Nvidia's healthcare division, who reported directly to him.
Meanwhile, NVIDIA announced that it plans to announce its third quarter performance for fiscal 2027 on the 17th as scheduled and hold a performance briefing session.
