Who Is Colette Kress? Nvidia’s CFO Is Now Interim CEO

The board accepted Jensen Huang’s resignation on November 11 and named its longtime finance chief interim CEO. Earnings remain scheduled for November 17.

Nov 12, 2026

Updated November 12, 2026 (ET).

Colette Kress in 2017, in a still from SiliconANGLE theCUBE. Photo: SiliconANGLE theCUBE, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

Colette Kress has been Nvidia’s finance chief since 2013. On November 12, 2026, the company announced that its board had accepted the resignation of Jensen Huang, the co-founder who had run Nvidia since 1993, and appointed Kress interim chief executive.

A Form 8-K filed that morning says the board accepted Huang’s resignation as president, chief executive officer, and a director on November 11, effective immediately, and named Kress, age 59, interim CEO the same day. She will continue as executive vice president and chief financial officer while the board searches for a permanent chief executive and considers internal and external candidates. The board also appointed Harvey C. Jones, a director since 1993 and a former chief executive of Synopsys, as its first-ever chair. Jones is 73 and has been managing partner of Square Wave Ventures, a private family office, since 2004, the filing says.

“Colette has helped lead NVIDIA through a period of extraordinary growth and has a deep understanding of our business, customers, operations and financial position,” Jones said in the company’s November 12 news release. “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.” Kress said she was “committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years.”

The change followed a week of turmoil. On November 8, Huang, in a staff email obtained by CNBC, apologized for being unfaithful to his wife. That same day, Nvidia’s board said it was opening an independent investigation “in light of recent reporting that founder and CEO Jensen Huang has been the target of a foreign intelligence effort.” A committee of independent directors, assisted by outside counsel, would oversee the inquiry. The board said it had “no reason to believe that either national security or NVIDIA secrets were compromised,” and that Huang supported the review. On November 10, the independent directors said they had retained Joon H. Kim, a former acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and his firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to conduct the investigation. The November 12 release does not say whether that inquiry continues. The day before the board accepted Huang’s resignation, Semafor reported that some directors favored appointing Kress as interim CEO if he left.

The stock moved sharply on the news. Yahoo Finance showed Nvidia last closing at $173.73 on Wednesday, November 11, and trading at $150.77 in premarket, down $22.96, or 13.22%, as of 9:23 a.m. ET Thursday. Nvidia said it will still report third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday, November 17, at approximately 1:20 p.m. PT, followed by an earnings call at 2 p.m. PT.

Colette Kress: Quick facts

Full name: Colette M. Kress, according to Nvidia’s November 12, 2026 Form 8-K.
Age: 59, according to that filing.
Known for: Nvidia’s executive vice president and chief financial officer since September 2013; named interim CEO on November 11, 2026, after Jensen Huang resigned.
Education: A bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Southern Methodist University, according to Nvidia’s official biography and the company’s 2013 appointment filing.
Earlier career: Eight years in finance roles at Texas Instruments; 13 years at Microsoft, including as chief financial officer of the Server and Tools division beginning in 2006; then senior vice president and chief financial officer of Cisco’s Business Technology and Operations Finance organization, from 2010 until she joined Nvidia.
Residence: Saratoga, California, according to Forbes. Forbes also lists two children.
Latest news: Appointed interim CEO on November 11, 2026, while remaining CFO; Nvidia’s next earnings report is scheduled for November 17.

How did Colette Kress become Nvidia’s CFO?

Kress spent nearly 25 years in finance jobs at large technology companies before she arrived at Nvidia, according to the company’s official biography. A September 2013 Form 8-K says she spent eight years at Texas Instruments in a variety of finance positions, then held a range of roles at Microsoft from 1997 to 2010. Beginning in 2006, she was chief financial officer of Microsoft’s Server and Tools division, responsible for financial strategy, planning, reporting, and business development for that unit. In 2010 she became senior vice president and chief financial officer of the Business Technology and Operations Finance organization at Cisco, where she was responsible for financial strategy, planning, reporting, and business development for all business segments, engineering, and operations.

Nvidia’s board appointed her executive vice president and chief financial officer, and principal financial officer, on September 11, 2013, with employment expected later that month, the filing says. She was 46. In a September 16, 2013 news release, Huang, then identified as Jen-Hsun Huang, said the company had “searched extensively for the right candidate” and called her “a great asset as we work to extend our global leadership in visual computing, mobile and the cloud.” Karen T. Burns, who had been interim CFO, stepped down from that role and remained vice president, corporate controller and tax. The official biography says Kress joined in September 2013. Forbes, in a profile last updated June 3, 2026, says she joined “reportedly after the endorsement of her two sons, who knew of Nvidia because of the chips in their favorite video games.”

What has Colette Kress overseen at Nvidia?

She has been the company’s public finance voice through the period in which Nvidia became central to the market for AI chips. In the second quarter of fiscal 2027, ended July 26, 2026, Nvidia reported revenue of $96.2 billion, up 18% from the prior quarter and up 106% from a year earlier. Data Center revenue was $89.0 billion, up 117% from a year earlier. GAAP diluted earnings per share were $2.46. The company said it returned approximately $26.0 billion to shareholders in the quarter through buybacks and dividends, and it guided third-quarter revenue to $108.0 billion, plus or minus 2%, while “not assuming any Data Center compute revenue from China in its outlook.” Forbes says Nvidia became the first company to reach a $5 trillion market capitalization in 2025.

Her own wealth has moved with that stock. CFO.com, citing Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, reported that on July 29, 2025, Kress was listed with a net worth of more than $1 billion, based on Bloomberg data that she owned or had options on more than 5.4 million Nvidia shares. Forbes later estimated her net worth at $1.2 billion as of June 3, 2026, on its 2026 America’s Richest Self-Made Women list. Those figures are dated and move with the shares; they are not a current estimate as of November 12.

She is not the permanent chief executive. The board has said it is searching for a successor and will consider internal and external candidates. The Who Is Jensen Huang? page on The Profile, last updated October 23, 2026, covers how Huang built the company she now temporarily leads.

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Frequently asked questions about Colette Kress

Is Colette Kress Nvidia’s permanent CEO?

No. Nvidia’s board appointed her interim chief executive on November 11, 2026, and said she will continue as executive vice president and chief financial officer until a permanent successor is named. The board said it will consider internal and external candidates.

Why was Colette Kress named interim CEO?

She was already Nvidia’s longtime CFO. The board accepted Jensen Huang’s resignation as president, CEO, and director on November 11, after it had opened an investigation into reporting that he had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort, and after Huang, in a November 8 staff email obtained by CNBC, apologized for being unfaithful to his wife. The day before the resignation was accepted, Semafor reported that some directors favored appointing Kress as interim CEO if Huang left.

How long has Colette Kress been Nvidia’s CFO?

Since September 2013, when she joined as executive vice president and chief financial officer. The company’s official biography and its November 12, 2026 Form 8-K both use that tenure.

When does Nvidia report earnings?

The company said it will report third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday, November 17, 2026, at approximately 1:20 p.m. PT, with an earnings call at 2 p.m. PT, as previously scheduled.

Who is Nvidia’s board chair?

Harvey C. Jones, a director since 1993 and a former chief executive and executive chairman of Synopsys, was appointed the board’s first-ever chair on November 11, 2026. He is 73 and has been managing partner of Square Wave Ventures since 2004, according to the Form 8-K.

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