Jensen Huang has resigned from his position as president and chief executive of Nvidia, the company confirmed on Thursday, just a few days after he admitted to a romantic affair with an alleged Chinese spy, sparking a U.S. national security crisis.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nvidia said its board accepted Huang’s resignation on Wednesday.
Nvidia said its current chief financial officer and executive vice president, Collete Kress, will take over as interim CEO until the company finds a permanent successor. Kress will continue to serve as the company’s CFO.
Nvidia’s shares were down more than 11% in premarket trading on Thursday. Since Friday, the company’s stock has fallen dramatically, resulting in a market cap loss of more than $300 billion.
Nvidia’s board has also appointed Harvey Jones, a managing partner of Square Wave Ventures and former CEO of Synopsys, as the company’s first-ever chair of the board of directors. Jones has been on Nvidia’s board since 1993.
“Jensen’s contributions to NVIDIA are profound. NVIDIA is one of the most consequential technology companies in the world. The Board and the company thank Jensen for his immeasurable contributions to the company and the industry,” the company said in a statement.
