Nvidia Names Kress Interim CEO Amid a Growing Israel Business
Colette Kress, named Nvidia’s interim chief executive on Thursday, has long coordinated with the chipmaker’s Israel operations, which Globes reported employed almost 6,000 people earlier this year.
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Nvidia’s board appointed the company’s finance chief as interim chief executive on Thursday after accepting Jensen Huang’s resignation as president, chief executive and a board member, effective immediately.
A Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the board accepted Huang’s departure on Nov. 11. Colette Kress, 59, will keep her post as executive vice president and chief financial officer while she serves as interim chief.
The board said it is opening a search that will consider internal and external candidates. The company statement did not give a reason for the resignation.
Nvidia said Thursday that Harvey C. Jones, a director since 1993, had been named the board’s first chair.
Days Started With Israel
Kress described her working relationship with the company’s Israel operations in July 2023, in her first interview with Israeli media. “My day starts with Israel meetings, and only then continues to California,” she told Globes.
At the time, Globes reported that about 3,200 Nvidia employees — 12% of the workforce — were based in Israel, at centers in Yokneam, Tel Aviv, Ra’anana, Tel Hai, Kiryat Gat and Beersheva, after the purchase of Israeli networking company Mellanox.
Kress called that deal “one of the best acquisitions I saw in the industry.”
A Larger Israel Footprint
Nvidia announced the Mellanox deal in 2019 at $6.9 billion and completed it in 2020. In February 2024, Globes reported that Huang and Kress had said annual sales of products based on Mellanox technology had reached $13 billion, most of them developed in Israel.
By February 2026, Globes, citing Nvidia’s financial report, said the company had almost 6,000 employees in Israel. It said the Mellanox-based networking division generated at least $40 billion in revenue in 2025, or about 16% of Nvidia’s total.
The company has also approved plans for a large campus in Kiryat Tivon devoted mainly to networking work, Globes reported.
Shares Fall as a Search Begins
Jones said Kress “has helped lead NVIDIA through a period of extraordinary growth” and that the board has “full confidence in Colette and the leadership team.” Kress said she was “committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years.”
Huang had been Nvidia’s only chief executive since co-founding the company in 1993. The announcement followed a week in which the board opened an independent investigation and The Wall Street Journal reported that directors were preparing to oust him.
Nvidia shares were down about 5.4% in mid-morning trading Thursday, at $164.43, after opening at $150.99 and falling as low as $148.80, compared with Wednesday’s close of $173.73, according to Yahoo Finance. The company is scheduled to report fiscal third-quarter results on Tuesday, Nov. 17.
Kamer Kurunç
Kamer Kurunç is the Team Leader of Clash Report and has led the outlet for four years. He oversees its breaking world news coverage, from the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war to defense and global politics. His focus is fast, verified, source-based reporting. Follow him on X at @kamerknc.
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