Jensen Huang has resigned, leaving a huge void at the helm of one of the world's most valuable companies. Only one person can fill this, says US President Trump: Tim Cook. But there are some arguments against the proposal.
After the abrupt departure of Jensen Huang, US President Donald Trump has brought his own candidate into play for the top job at Chup manufacturer Nvidia: Tim Cook. On his platform Truth Social, Trump wrote that after the resignation of Huang, who had done a "fantastic job," there was only one man who could take his place - Apple's Tim Cook. His conclusion: “A Legend replaces a Legend!” Trump did not comment on the circumstances of Huang's departure. Neither Cook nor Apple have yet responded to the proposal.
Formally, Trump's initiative has no weight. The president has no say in who runs the chip company. However, such interference is not new: In August 2025, Trump demanded the immediate resignation of the then new Intel boss Lip-Bu Tan. He accused him of a “serious conflict of interest” due to his connections to Chinese companies. Tan remained in office. After a meeting in the White House, Trump changed his mind about him, and a short time later the state acquired almost ten percent of Intel.
At Nvidia, CFO Colette Kress will take over for the time being: She will lead the group on an interim basis and at the same time retain her position as CFO until a permanent successor is named. The new Chairman of the Board is Harvey C. Jones. The 73-year-old has been on the board since 1993 and was formerly the head of Synopsys. We are looking internally and externally. This suggests that Kress does not automatically have to be the permanent solution.
However, Kress is also considered one of the two internal candidates for a long-term solution. Many analysts and investors see Nvidia's chief engineer Ian Buck as a particularly likely candidate. They consider Buck, who is responsible for the data center business, to be the most logical permanent solution. Buck is also at the top of the Polymarket betting platform. Bettors will see him in first place with a probability of 30 percent, followed by Colette Kress with 20 percent. In general, an internal succession arrangement is viewed as more advantageous and more likely than an external one. Huang himself said in a Bloomberg interview in October that he hoped Nvidia's next boss was already working at the company.
Arm boss Rene Haas is often mentioned among the external candidates. In addition, AMD boss Lisa Su. It would be difficult to poach them, after all, AMD has successfully rehabilitated them since 2014. Another Apple personality is also circulating: Bloomberg names Apple's chip boss Johny Srouji as a possible successor. Google Cloud boss Thomas Kurian and Palo Alto Networks boss Nikesh Arora were brought into play by colorful tech analyst Dan Ives - alongside a third name: Tim Cook. So far, Ives is the only well-known analyst who can see something of Trump's idea.
Cook's experience speaks for him. He led Apple for 15 years, from 2011 to September of this year, and is now chairman of Apple's board of directors. According to Apple, in this role he will continue to liaise with political decision-makers worldwide. His experience in dealing with Washington and China in particular could be relevant for Nvidia. The company is like no other at the center of the tech conflict between the two powers.
The main argument against this is that Cook has just completed an orderly withdrawal from the top operational position. Many observers therefore consider Trump's proposal to be wishful thinking and do not expect the idea to go any further because Cook enjoys his role as Apple chairman.
Trump's recommendation for Cook is also notable because the US President publicly reprimanded Cook several times in 2025. Trump criticized the Apple boss primarily because of the relocation of iPhone production - including during an appearance in Qatar in May 2025, where he criticized Apple's expansion of production in India instead of in the USA. In the meantime, the relationship has apparently relaxed: Cook is one of the tech giants who have sought proximity to the White House since Trump's return. He even accompanied Trump to China at the beginning of the year and was Trump's guest at the state banquet in the White House on September 24th - along with Huang and his wife Lori.
The first test for the interim solution, i.e. for Colette Kress, is already coming: On November 17th, Nvidia will present the figures for the third quarter.
One thing is certain: First of all, Tim Cook would have to be called - and he would have to want to. It would also have to be clarified whether a change is even legally possible. Because non-competition clauses and conflicts of interest as Apple chairman could stand in the way of this. It is completely unclear whether Trump's preferred candidate Tim Cook is even remotely an option to succeed Jensen Huang - and in the end it is not the White House that decides on the successor, but Nvidia's board.
