Who is Colette Kress? Nvidia’s interim CEO, CFO since 2013, takes over from Jensen Huang

Colette Kress, Nvidia’s chief financial officer since 2013, became the company’s interim CEO on 12 November 2026 after co-founder Jensen Huang resigned. Kress, 59, keeps her CFO role while the board looks for a permanent successor, and Nvidia reports its quarterly results on 17 November with her in charge, according to the company’s SEC filing. 12

Who is Colette Kress?

Kress joined Nvidia in September 2013 as executive vice president and CFO. She has been the finance executive next to Huang on the company’s earnings calls since then, Reuters reported. Before Nvidia she spent almost 25 years in technology finance, at Texas Instruments, Microsoft and Cisco. Our Colette Kress profile covers her career, education and pay in full. 23

Key facts

Item	Detail
Role	Interim CEO and CFO of Nvidia
Interim CEO since	12 November 2026
CFO since	September 2013
Age	59
Education	Finance degree, University of Arizona; MBA, Southern Methodist University
Net worth	About $1.2 billion (Forbes)
Board chair	Harvey C. Jones, the first holder of the role

Her career before Nvidia

She spent eight years in finance roles at Texas Instruments, then worked at Microsoft from 1997 to 2010. At Microsoft she became CFO of the Server and Tools division in 2006. In 2010 she moved to Cisco as senior vice president and CFO of its Business Technology and Operations Finance organisation, and she joined Nvidia three years later. She holds a finance degree from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Southern Methodist University, according to Nvidia’s annual report, as cited by Reuters. 2

What Colette Kress said

In a statement issued with the announcement, Kress said Nvidia’s strength has always come from its people and that she is committed to building on the foundation Huang created over 33 years. Fox Business reported that she plans to keep the focus on customers, partners, developers and shareholders. Jones said the board has full confidence in her and the leadership team. 13

Colette Kress net worth

Forbes ranks Kress No. 32 on its 2026 list of America’s richest self-made women, with an estimated net worth of about $1.2 billion. Reuters valued her Nvidia shares at roughly $750 million at the close on 11 November, down from more than $1 billion at the stock’s peak the month before. The figures measure different things, as our Colette Kress net worth page explains. By comparison, Huang is worth about $143 billion, as we covered in our report on how much Jensen Huang is worth. 12

Who could become permanent CEO?

Nvidia has not said who it is considering or when it will decide. Yahoo Finance reported that prediction markets favour Ian Buck, who runs Nvidia’s data centre business, and our report on the resignation notes that the Financial Times named Arm chief executive Rene Haas as another possible candidate. Kress’s role is described as interim, and she has not said whether she wants the job permanently. 4

What happens next

Her first test is the 17 November results, the first since Huang’s exit. Investors will look for any change to guidance, and for signs of whether customers’ orders hold up while the board searches. Read our earlier coverage of the Nvidia board meeting on Huang’s future and the Jensen Huang profile for how the leadership change came about. 13

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