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Nvidia is facing a succession crisis with no plan in place after CEO Jensen Huang’s exit even as many employees, now backed by Elon Musk, clamour for him to be reinstated
Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas is also a former Nvidia executive, who worked at the company for seven years. (Image: REUTERS/Hasnoor Hussain/File)
Amid the raging Nvidia spy scandal and its CEO Jensen Huang’s resignation due to grave personal misconduct, the company’s board has approached Rene Haas – the leader of British chip designer Arm Holdings – to take over.
The world’s most valuable chipmaker, Nvidia is facing a succession crisis with no plan in place after Jensen Huang’s exit even as many employees, now backed by Elon Musk, clamour for him to be reinstated.
According to Reuterswhich could not independently verify the information first reported by the Financial TimesHaas – also a former Nvidia executive – is one of the frontrunners for the company’s top job. The board is reportedly sounding out outside candidates to replace Huang.
WHO COULD TAKE OVER?
Haas spent seven years at Nvidia, rising to vice-president and general manager of its computing products business, before joining Arm in 2013.
The FT report said he is one of several candidates and may not be offered the job or accept it. Nvidia’s board said it was still choosing a search firm and had not formally approached anyone, adding that speculation about candidates was “premature”.
Reuters said analysts also see Ian Buck, who led development of the CUDA software platform, as a leading internal contender. External names include Lisa Su of AMD, Sanjay Mehrotra of Micron, Matt Murphy of Marvell and Apple’s Johny Srouji. President Donald Trump has floated Tim Cook, Apple’s former chief executive.
Tae Kim, author of The Nvidia Waybacked Haas and Buck in a November 12 post on his Substack newsletter, ‘Key Context’. He wrote that Nvidia has a deep bench of talent and that, in his view, “there are only two choices”.
He called Haas a public-facing leader with a strong grasp of technology, and said Buck has the engineering knowledge and customer relationships to lead the company. He stressed on keeping Jonah Alben, the senior vice-president of GPU engineering, to protect the chip roadmap, adding that his own views on Nvidia’s dependence on Huang had changed.
DO NVIDIA EMPLOYEES WANT A NEW FACE?
Not everyone at Nvidia wants a new face. Wired reported that a longtime engineer urged the board, in an internal post, to weigh staff sentiment.
The post has drawn more than 1,600 comments, several urging Huang’s return, the site said. Tesla boss Elon Musk said on X that a petition to reinstate him was underway and that he would sign it. The Associated Press reported that he had earlier said it would be an honour to hire Huang himself.
Nvidia has declined to comment on either report.
IS THERE A SUCCESSION CRISIS?
Huang, 63, resigned on Thursday, November 12, after reports of extramarital affairsincluding a relationship with a businesswoman – identified as Alice Huang – suspected by the US of spying for China.
The AP reported that his exit capped the downfall of a “poster boy” of the AI boom and sent Nvidia shares down 14 per cent at the opening bell before they stabilised. They closed about 4 per cent lower and fell a further 2 per cent on Friday (November 13), taking the week’s market value losses to roughly $573 billion.
Asa Hiken, an analyst at eMarketer, told AP that Huang’s departure “introduces uncertainty well beyond the company itself”, reflecting fears of wider consequences and a possible AI bubble. The report said Nvidia had no succession plan for Huang’s departure, and he had been as synonymous with the company for three decades as Steve Jobs was with Apple.
Colette Kress, the chief financial officer, has been named interim chief executive. The board has also appointed its first chairman, Harvey C Jones, an entrepreneur and venture investor.
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Ask News18Nvidia’s board has approached Rene Haas, the leader of British chip designer Arm Holdings and a former Nvidia executive, as a frontrunner to take over as CEO.
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Oindrila Mukherjee is a senior sub-editor who works for the rewrite and breaking news desks. Her nine years of experience in print and digital journalism range from editing and reporting to writing im…Read More
November 14, 2026, 1:24 PM IST
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