Nvidia is searching for a permanent CEO after Jensen Huang resigned Thursday. A Wall Street Journal report, citing an anonymous source, describes earlier tension between Huang and Collette Kress, the company’s CFO who has now replaced him as interim CEO.
A reported disagreement over leadership
According to the report, Huang called Kress “a deer in the headlights” during a presentation earlier in the summer. The comment came during a meeting with Nvidia’s finance team about plans to provide guarantees worth billions of dollars to data center operators that could not afford to buy the company’s chips upfront.
Huang reportedly also said Kress could not help him steer strategy or decision-making. The remarks, as described by the anonymous source, point to a difference between the finance chief’s role and the leadership support Huang expected.
The report portrays Kress as raising questions about how Nvidia should assess some of its deals. Those questions matter to the company’s financial planning because the proposals involved credit and guarantees, rather than only immediate chip purchases.
Kress questioned how to assess deals
Kress has been with Nvidia for over 13 years now. Before joining the company, she served as SVP and CFO of Cisco’s Business Technology Operations Finance.
The Wall Street Journal report said Kress questioned Nvidia’s program-focused, credit-based deals involving Huang’s son-in-law Nico Caprez. It said she wanted to understand how to decide which deals were beneficial, how to value guarantees, and how to determine returns.
These questions concern the risks and potential value of commitments made to customers. A guarantee can support a buyer that cannot pay upfront, but the company still has to judge the deal’s value and expected return. The report does not provide the answers Kress received or describe the outcome of each deal.
OpenAI commitment was scaled back
Earlier in the year, Kress scaled back Nvidia’s commitment for OpenAI’s ambitious Ohio data center project. The company had been in talks to provide $250 billion in credit to OpenAI, but ended up committing $105 billion.
The change offers a concrete example of Kress’s role in evaluating large financial commitments. It also gives context to the reported discussion about guarantees and credit-based deals, without establishing that the Ohio project was the subject of the earlier meeting with the finance team.
Nvidia looks for a permanent CEO
Huang had the top job for over 33 years. Nvidia is now searching for a permanent CEO to replace him, while Kress serves as interim CEO. The report on Huang’s comments raises questions about their working relationship, but it does not say who will ultimately be chosen for the permanent position.
The article also reported other developments surrounding Huang’s resignation. It said he resigned after reports of two extramarital affairs, including one with the company’s VP for healthcare, Kimberly Powell, and that the company is investigating a possible Chinese espionage plot. Reuters later reported that Huang was having a third affair with another employee.
Those claims form part of the circumstances described in the coverage of his departure. The leadership issue now facing Nvidia is who will take the permanent role and how the company will handle decisions about strategy and major financial commitments under new leadership.