AMD’s Lisa Su, Apple’s Johny Srouji Mentioned as Potential Successors to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

Kress likely to serve as interim chief

Attention also on possible succession by Madison Huang

Silicon Valley and Wall Street are increasingly focused on who could succeed Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang. Candidates under discussion range from key internal executives to leaders at rival companies, with the possibility of family succession also being raised.

A roundup of foreign media reports on Nov. 12 shows the pool of potential next CEOs falling into three broad categories: internal, external and family candidates. Among internal contenders, Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress is one of the main names. She has worked at Nvidia for 13 years after stints at Cisco and Microsoft. Her public profile and deep knowledge of the company make her a strong choice to fill any leadership vacuum. Even so, some view her as less suited to the role over the long term because she is a finance executive without an engineering background.

Another internal candidate is Ian Buck, Nvidia’s vice president for hyperscale and high-performance computing. He led the development of CUDA, the parallel computing platform that underpins Nvidia’s dominance in the artificial intelligence chip market.

Among outside contenders, Apple’s Johny Srouji, the company’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, is also being mentioned. Srouji led Apple’s in-house chip development effort from the start and has overseen the hardware division since John Ternus became chief executive officer. Taiwanese media have also cited AMD Chief Executive Officer Lisa Su as a potential successor. Arm Chief Executive Officer Rene Haas, who previously spent seven years at Nvidia, is also being discussed.

The prospect of family succession is also drawing attention. Jensen Huang’s two children both currently work at Nvidia. His daughter Madison Huang, a senior director of product marketing for physical AI, has drawn particular focus. An Nvidia official said Madison Huang has been expanding her authority across multiple businesses.

Still, whoever succeeds him would face a difficult task filling Jensen Huang’s shoes. Bernstein wrote in a recent report that “Nvidia is not an ordinary company, and Jensen Huang is not an ordinary CEO,” adding that “he is Nvidia.”

Lee Hye-in, Hankyung.com reporter hey@hankyung.com