# Nvidia's CFO becomes interim CEO after Huang's exit

> Colette Kress, who guided Nvidia from $9 billion to nearly $4 trillion in market value, takes the helm as the chipmaker searches for a permanent leader.
- Title: Nvidia's CFO becomes interim CEO after Huang's exit · Fortune
- Summary: Colette Kress, who guided Nvidia from $9 billion to nearly $4 trillion in market value, takes the helm as the chipmaker searches for a permanent leader.
- Keywords: colette kress, nvidia, jensen huang, interim ceo, chief financial officer, ai chipmaker, Fortune
- Source: Fortune — https://fortune.com/2026/11/12/colette-kress-interim-chief-exeuctive-office-nvidia-jensen-huang-never-sought-c-suite-career-climb-billionaire-finance-leader
- Author: Preston Fore
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: colette kress, nvidia, jensen huang, interim ceo, chief financial officer, ai chipmaker
## Kress named interim CEO
Nvidia appointed longtime CFO Colette Kress as interim chief executive on Thursday following the resignation of Jensen Huang, the company's embattled leader.
## She never planned to lead
Kress, fifty-nine, was not publicly positioned as Huang's successor. In a rare 2022 interview, she told Fortune that becoming a C-suite leader was never necessarily her career goal.

> I was just always fascinated by somebody else's role.
## Driven by curiosity and learning
Kress said she has been driven by curiosity about other people's jobs and a desire to keep learning.She holds a bachelor's in finance from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

> I just get excited about learning new things.
## From $9 billion to $4 trillion
Since joining Nvidia in September 2013, Kress guided the company's finances through a transformation from video game hardware to an AI chipmaking powerhouse.
## Revenue and wealth soared
Nvidia's revenue grew from four point one three billion dollars in fiscal twenty fourteen to one hundred thirty point five billion dollars in fiscal twenty twenty-five.
## Wall Street respects her leadership
Kress earned sixteen million dollars in total compensation in fiscal twenty twenty-six and has prioritized talent as Nvidia grew from eight thousand to more than forty thousand employees.

> She is extremely well respected both internally at Nvidia and across the tech industry.
## Key takeaway

Nvidia named CFO Colette Kress interim CEO on Thursday after Jensen Huang's resignation, elevating the finance leader who helped build the company into an AI powerhouse.