In brief
- Colette Kress, 59, became Nvidia's interim CEO following Jensen Huang's resignation, while retaining her CFO responsibilities.
- She joined Nvidia in 2013 after nearly 25 years at Texas Instruments, Microsoft, and Cisco, helping oversee a more than 50-fold increase in annual revenue.
- Her biggest challenges include maintaining investor confidence, navigating US-China tensions, and managing an organization built around Huang's leadership.
For the first time in 33 years, someone other than Jensen Huang is running Nvidia. And the person taking over is not an engineer, a chip designer, or a Silicon Valley founder.
Colette Kress, Nvidia's 59-year-old chief financial officer, was named interim CEO Thursday following Huang's abrupt resignation amid reports of extramarital affairs and allegations involving a suspected Chinese intelligence operative.
Kress will remain CFO while the board searches for a permanent replacement, according to Nvidia's regulatory filing. She inherits a company worth trillions of dollars, a shaken investor base, and a management structure built around one man.
From Texas Instruments to Nvidia's AI empire
Kress joined Nvidia in September 2013, when it was primarily known for graphics cards used in video games. She arrived with nearly 25 years of financial experience across some of America's largest technology companies.
She spent eight years at Texas Instruments before joining Microsoft in 1997. During her 13-year tenure there, she became CFO of the Server and Tools division, overseeing financial strategy for Microsoft's enterprise computing business.
In 2010, she moved to Cisco as senior vice president and CFO of its Business Technology and Operations Finance organization, managing financial planning and business development across the networking giant's operations.
Kress holds a finance degree from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Southern Methodist University, according to her official biography.
Her move to Nvidia came with an unusual endorsement. Her two sons, then enthusiastic gamers, encouraged her to join the company responsible for the graphics chips powering their favorite games, according to Forbes.
Huang personally recruited her, explaining his vision for AI computing on a whiteboard during their discussions, Wired reported. At the time, Nvidia was the smallest company Kress had worked for.
The woman behind Nvidia's financial expansion
When Kress joined Nvidia, its annual revenue stood at approximately $4.13 billion. By fiscal 2026, that figure had reached $215.9 billion, an increase of more than 50 times.
Huang drove Nvidia's technological strategy, but Kress oversaw the finances supporting its expansion from gaming hardware into data centers and AI infrastructure.
Her tenure included Nvidia's $6.9 billion acquisition of networking specialist Mellanox and an increasingly aggressive strategy of investing in companies that purchase its computing hardware.
Those relationships now include CoreWeave, in which Nvidia invested another $2 billion in January. CoreWeave's rapid growth reflects enormous demand for Nvidia-powered computing, alongside the financial costs of building that infrastructure.
→Kress also became Nvidia's principal financial voice to Wall Street, regularly explaining margins, chip demand and revenue forecasts during earnings calls.
Forbes ranked her among America's richest self-made women in 2026, with almost $750 million in Nvidia shares as of Wednesday's close.
The challenges
Kress takes charge as Nvidia faces questions about the sustainability of AI infrastructure spending. Nvidia had already lost approximately $1.27 trillion in market value from its October peak before the board publicly announced its investigation on Huang’s love affairs.
She must also navigate Washington's restrictions on advanced chip exports to China and scrutiny surrounding Nvidia's commercial relationships. The board has said it has no reason to believe company secrets or U.S. national security were compromised in the allegations involving Huang.
Her financial expertise cannot entirely replace Huang's technical background or his personal relationships with developers, customers, and governments. Maintaining Nvidia's engineering leadership will require close coordination with the executives responsible for its chips and software.
Kress has promised to build on Huang's legacy, saying that “Nvidia's strength has always come from its people.”
Her first major public test arrives Tuesday, November 17, when Nvidia reports its third-quarter fiscal 2027 earnings. The company has scheduled its results for approximately 1:20 p.m. Pacific, followed by an investor call at 2 p.m.
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