The man who built the world's most important AI chip company resigned Thursday after reports of an affair with a suspected Chinese agent. Rep. Brian Mast says the questions are just starting.
BREAKING | By Joseph J. Jackson | SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Nov. 12, 2026)
The short version
Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia's president, CEO and board member Thursday, effective immediately.
CFO Colette Kress is interim CEO. Former Synopsys CEO Harvey C. Jones is the board's first-ever chair.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) says Huang has agreed to testify before Congress ahead of Thanksgiving.
Nvidia shares fell more than 13% in early trading before winning some of it back.
Jensen Huang has resigned as president, CEO and board member of Nvidia, effective immediately, the company's board announced Thursday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO and keep her CFO job until a permanent replacement is named. The board said it will look at both inside and outside candidates. Harvey C. Jones, a former Synopsys CEO, was named the board's first-ever chair.
Huang co-founded Nvidia 33 years ago and built it into a company worth about $4 trillion. He was not quoted in the company's announcement. He did apologize in a memo to employees and said he supports the independent investigation, NBC News reported.
Why he's out
Huang's exit follows weeks of reporting on his relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at the Singapore company Megaspeed who is accused of being an agent for China. The New York Times also reported a second relationship, with an Nvidia executive who reported to him. The FBI, Congress and Nvidia's own board have all been looking into it. FMNN reported Wednesday that Trump was warned twice about Alice Huang and brought Jensen Huang to Beijing anyway.
The Florida connection
Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told reporters Thursday that Huang has agreed to testify before Congress ahead of Thanksgiving. Mast said Huang tentatively agreed Wednesday night, just before he resigned, CNN reported. Earlier this week Mast told ABC News he would "absolutely" subpoena Huang if he didn't respond. Mast, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) of the China Select Committee and Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) of the Intelligence Committee had asked for a closed-door briefing on Nov. 18.
Huang has dodged Congress before. In June he turned down Sen. Elizabeth Warren's invitation to testify on Nvidia's China business. Warren pointed out at the time that he'd found time for a $1 million-a-head dinner at Mar-a-Lago.
The money
Nvidia shares fell more than 13% in early trading Thursday before winning some of that back, Yahoo Finance reported, and the company's market value slipped below $4 trillion. Nvidia said its financial guidance hasn't changed. Earnings are still set for Monday, Nov. 17.
Washington reacts
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Huang "did the right thing" by stepping down. President Trump posted on Truth Social that Huang had "done a fantastic job" and that "there is only one man to take his place — TIM COOK of Apple," according to CNN.
The board picks Nvidia's next CEO, not the president.
FMNN will update this story as Huang's testimony date is set and as Nvidia reports earnings.
Sources
Photo: Nvidia headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. Coolcaesar via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.