Who is Nvidia’s new interim CEO Colette Kress?

WASHINGTON: Nvidia Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress is set to take over as the company’s interim chief executive, placing an experienced technology finance executive at the helm of one of the world’s most influential artificial intelligence and semiconductor companies.

The appointment was announced on Thursday following the board’s decision to remove co-founder and longtime CEO Jensen Huang amid reports concerning two alleged extramarital relationships, including one involving a woman alleged to be a Chinese spy.

Kress has served as Nvidia’s chief financial officer since September 2013, when she joined the company as executive vice president and CFO. Over the years, she has worked closely with Huang and regularly appeared alongside him during the company’s quarterly earnings calls.

During her tenure, Nvidia has experienced extraordinary financial growth. Its revenue stood at $4.13 billion in the fiscal year she joined, compared with $215.9 billion in fiscal 2026, reflecting the company’s rapid expansion in the global semiconductor and artificial intelligence markets.

Before joining Nvidia, Kress built an extensive career in the financial departments of major technology companies.

She spent eight years working in finance positions at Texas Instruments before joining Microsoft in 1997. During her 13-year tenure at Microsoft, she held several senior financial roles and became chief financial officer of its Server and Tools division in 2006.

In that position, she oversaw financial strategy, planning and reporting.

Kress moved to Cisco in 2010, taking up the role of senior vice president and chief financial officer of its Business Technology and Operations Finance organisation. Her responsibilities included financial strategy and business development.

She joined Nvidia three years later.

Kress holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

According to Fortune, she had accumulated nearly 25 years of experience in financial roles at major technology companies before joining Nvidia.

She previously described Nvidia as the smallest company she had worked for when she arrived in 2013.

Nvidia’s executive officers work on an at-will employment basis and do not have individual employment, severance or change-in-control agreements, according to the company’s regulatory filings.

Kress’s compensation includes restricted stock units. A stock award granted in March 2026 is scheduled to vest over four years.

Forbes ranked her 32nd on its 2026 list of America’s richest self-made women.

Her Nvidia shareholding was valued at approximately $750 million at Wednesday’s closing price. The holding had previously been worth more than $1 billion when the company’s stock reached its peak last month.