Nvidia Says No Successor Contacted Yet, Candidate Speculation Is Premature

Search under way for headhunting firm

Nvidia’s board pushed back on reports naming specific people as successors to former Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang. The company said it has not yet selected an outside search firm to identify candidates and has held no formal talks with any contender.

CNBC reported on November 13 that Nvidia’s board said in a statement it is choosing a headhunting firm to support the CEO search. It has not held formal discussions with any potential candidate. The board added that speculation about any individual candidate, whether internal or external, is premature.

Earlier that day, the Financial Times, citing sources, reported that Nvidia’s board had approached Arm Chief Executive Officer Rene Haas. Haas worked at Nvidia for seven years before joining Arm in 2013, serving in roles including vice president of the computing products business.

Huang resigned on November 12 after a series of personal controversies. The board named Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO and said it would search for a permanent successor from both inside and outside the company.

Kress held her first meeting with senior executives that afternoon at Nvidia’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California, CNBC reported.

Meanwhile, investigations involving Huang have continued after his resignation. Nvidia hired law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to examine allegations that a foreign intelligence agency had approached Huang. Three committees in the U.S. House of Representatives asked Huang to explain the matter. The Senate Banking Committee also requested testimony from Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on national security concerns and how advanced AI semiconductors made their way into China.