"People with very high expectations have very low resilience."
Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang has suddenly stepped down on November, 12, 2026 after a spectacular 33-year run as head of the five trillion dollar artificial intelligence chip behemoth.
Huang, 63, resigned immediately in Santa Clara, California after being investigated by the company’s board for alleged affairs and a foreign intelligence debriefing.
Interim CEO Colette Kress, chief financial officer, is now acting as CEO until the board can find a new permanent leader.
World’s financial markets have responded quickly to the news, with the share price falling almost 10 percent at open on November, 12, 2026.
It is a shocking fall from grace for the immigrant dishwasher who built Silicon Valley’s most valuable hardware empire, only for scandal to bring him down.
Silicon Valley Rockstar Falls From Grace
Jensen Huang has been synonymous with the artificial intelligence revolution for over three decades.
However, on the 12 th November 2026 everything changed.
Nvidia’s board confirmed that the 63-year-old had stepped down from his role as president, chief executive and board member.
This comes after weeks of intense corporate chaos, shareholder lawsuits and board investigations into his conduct.
The interim CEO position will now be occupied by Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress.
Nvidia’s stock fell almost 10% at the open after news of the leadership change.
Harvey C. Jones, the new board chair said:
Jones stated:
“The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team, and we expect the company’s operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption.”
Nvidia’s stock fell almost 10% at the open after news of the leadership change.
From Rags to Riches
Huang incredible journey from rags to riches will be well known to Brit South Asians and those in the global diaspora.
Born Jen-Hsun Huang in Tainan, Taiwan in 1963, Huang’s life began with a lot of travelling.
At the age of five his family moved to Thailand and in 1972 his parents sent a nine-year-old Jensen and his brother to the United States due to the instability in the region they were living in.
Prior to leaving, his mum, who couldn’t speak English, taught them 10 words a day from the dictionary.
At the age of 15, he started working as a dishwasher and busboy at Denny’s restaurant in Oregon.
He would later reflect that this helped him overcome his shy nature and develop a strong work ethic.
In 1992 he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from Oregon State University and a master’s from Stanford University. He worked as a microchip designer.
On the 30 th April 1993 he met up with co-founders Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem at a Denny’s booth to design the Nvidia blueprint.
Building a $5 Trillion AI Empire
In its early days, Nvidia nearly went bankrupt. However, in 2006 Huang made a huge gamble with the release of CUDA. This software enabled developers to utilise graphics processing units for general computing.
Wall Street had serious doubts about investing so much money into maintaining this platform.
However, with the explosion of generative AI, Nvidia’s chips became essential to the modern AI industry.
In October 2025, Nvidia became the first publicly traded company in history to pass a $5 Trillion market capitalisation.
Huang’s fortune grew to over $150 billion, making him a rockstar.
He reflected earlier in 2026 on how he leads:
“People with very high expectations have very low resilience.”
A Scandalous Fall From Grace
On the 29 th October 2026, The New York Times reported that U.S intelligence officials had informed President Donald Trump about Jensen’s close ties with a Chinese businesswoman.
Intelligence agencies had suspicions that this woman (Alice Huang, an executive at Megaspeed, a data centre firm based in Singapore) was collecting sensitive information for Beijing.
Beijing have denied these accusations and Megaspeed have said they are cooperating with U.S export controls.
On the 8 th November 2026, Nvidia’s board launched an independent investigation after Jensen admitted to employees he had an affair with the executive.
On the 11 th November 2026, another article came out claiming that Jensen had tried to pursue a relationship with another senior executive at Nvidia who reported directly to him.
Nvidia and Jensen have not given specific reasons why he resigned in his official statement on the 12 th November 2026 but the board had been meeting to discuss removing him.
Wall Street and Tech Giants Weigh In
The news of Jensen’s fall came as a shock to the world. Before he officially resigned, Tesla investor Gary Black said:
“I doubt Jensen Huang will be able to remain as CEO. This could put short-term pressure on the stock of the second most valuable company in the world.”
Pershing Square’s CEO Bill Ackman added:
“I am not suggesting he gets a free pass. If indeed this is more than an affair, then it is obviously a real problem.”
Some tech leaders however defended Jensen’s position.
Shaun Maguire, Sequoia partner, said Jensen may have done a stupid thing but he is key to keeping the U.S ahead in AI.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla concurred saying: “I agree.”
Dan Ives, senior tech analyst commented on how the board did the right thing in removing him:
“The board had done what it needed to do, which is rip off the Band-Aid and take Nvidia into its next chapter without him.”
What is Next for Nvidia?
Colette Kress now faces the mammoth task of stabilising a company where the founder had a very hands on approach with his dozens of direct reports.
In her official statement on the November 12, 2026, she said:
“I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years.”
Analysts suggest someone from within such as Ian Buck, the head of hyperscale or someone from outside such as Rene Haas, the CEO of Arm could now come into contention.
Brit investors, tech workers and AI start-ups relying on Nvidia’s hardware will be waiting to see if they can succeed without their iconic engineer.
Jensen Huang’s story is a reminder that even the most powerful people in the world can fall victim to their own ego.
