Jensen Huang resigns as NVIDIA CEO after second extramarital affair with direct report

Jensen Huang resigns as NVIDIA CEO after second extramarital affair with direct report

Jensen Huang resigned as CEO of NVIDIA on November 12, 2026, less than 24 hours after The New York Times reported a second extramarital affair—this time with Kimberly Powell, the company's VP of Healthcare, who reported directly to him. According to the report, Huang and Powell were seen being affectionate at a San Jose hotel during NVIDIA's GTC conference in March.

CFO Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent replacement.

The line in the sand

The speed of Huang's departure reflects the severity of the violation. A relationship between a CEO and a subordinate directly reporting to him violates NVIDIA's code of conduct and creates immediate legal exposure. Unlike personal indiscretions that might trigger debate about private conduct versus professional judgment, this crosses a bright institutional line that applies uniformly across the company.

The scale of the departure

Huang built and ran NVIDIA for his entire tenure as CEO. Until this morning, he has held the position continuously—longer than some at the company have been alive. Though he is the founder, his control was not absolute. The board, historically loyal through decades of extraordinary stock appreciation, enforced its fiduciary duty in this case.

Colette Kress takes over

Kress has been at NVIDIA since 2013 and previously ranked among the most powerful women in tech, though sources suggest she has been underrated in that assessment relative to peers like Susan Lee and Sarah Fryer.