Nvidia's Jensen Huang resigns with immediate effect

Nvidia CEO Jenesn Huang resigned following the revelation of two extramarital affairs, including one with a top Chinese executive at Megaspeed, a Singapore-based company, suspected of being a Chinese spy. The board of the world's leading microchip company announced this in a note. The resignation takes effect immediately and applies to all the top positions held by Huang, who also left the board of the chip manufacturing company he co-founded 33 years ago, making it the giant with over 5 trillion in stock market capitalisation, to the point of giving a decisive boost to the artificial intelligence boom. The news of Huang's departure widened Nvidia's losses on the Nasdaq: in the pre-market the stock lost 11.60%, to 154.54 dollars. Yesterday it closed up 2.87%, at 173.73 dollars.

Colette Kress becomes interim CEO

Colette Kress, current executive vice president and CFO, will replace Huang on an interim basis. Kress, we read in the company note, "will continue to perform the functions of executive vice president and chief financial officer while serving as interim chief executive officer until the appointment of a permanent successor". In this regard, “the board of directors is initiating a search for a permanent CEO and will consider both internal and external candidates.” Kress has been vice president and CFO since she joined the company in September 2013. Previously, she worked for 13 years at Microsoft and as a finance leader within Cisco's business technology and operations finance unit. The CNBC website states that he earned a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Arizona and a master's degree in business administration from Southern Methodist University.

Kress: "Huang's contribution was profound"

"During her tenure she led the company's financial organization and played a key role in the growth and evolution of Nvidia. Colette helped lead Nvidia through a period of extraordinary growth and has a deep understanding of our business, our customers, our operations and our financial condition," said Harvey Jones, chairman of the board of Nvidia. “The board has full confidence in Colette and the management team and we expect the company's operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue uninterrupted,” he continued. “Nvidia's strength has always come from its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to continuing to build on the extraordinary foundation Jensen has created over the past 33 years,” Kress said. As for Huang, "his contributions to Nvidia have been profound," the Board emphasized in the note, "the board of directors and the company thank him for his invaluable contributions to the company and the entire industry."