The key facts

  • Jensen Huang left the posts of president and CEO of Nvidia on November 12; finance chief Colette Kress has been appointed interim CEO
  • According to The Washington Post, Huang personally called at least one potential candidate, but Nvidia has not yet chosen a search firm
  • The board of directors told CNBC it had held no official negotiations with candidates; the FT reported an approach to Arm chief Rene Haas

Founder's departure and transitional leadership

Jensen Huang left the posts of president and CEO of Nvidia on November 12. Finance chief Colette Kress has been appointed interim head of the company, and she retains her previous position until a permanent leader is confirmed. The board of directors is searching for candidates both inside the company and externally.

How the search for a successor is going

According to The Washington Post, citing a source familiar with the discussions, Huang is personally involved in selecting a successor and has already called at least one potential candidate. At the same time, according to the newspaper's sources, Nvidia has not yet chosen a search firm. The board of directors said in a statement to CNBC: 'We have not held official negotiations with any of the potential candidates.' The Financial Times previously reported that, as part of the search for a possible successor, the board of directors had approached Rene Haas, head of the British chip designer Arm.

Why the task is considered almost impossible

The difficulty of the search is explained by the fact that Huang built the company around himself: he had about 60 direct reports, he himself chaired the board of directors, and his son and daughter hold senior positions at Nvidia. 'This is the hardest CEO vacancy in at least the last 10-20 years,' said Andy Wu, a professor at Harvard Business School, assessing the situation. According to him, Nvidia's business requires engineering knowledge, and the pool of people combining a doctorate in electrical engineering with managerial skills is rather narrow. Huang himself previously said that replacing him would be almost impossible, since he 'grew up in this company'.

Market reaction

Analysts at Bernstein Research halved their price target for Nvidia shares — from $400 to $200 — doubting that a new CEO could match the level of the previous leader. Thus, along with the organizational uncertainty of the transition period, the company also faces skepticism from some analysts about the successor's ability to sustain the pace of business growth.