Just months before he was ousted from Nvidia, former CEO Jensen Huang tore into the finance executive who has now been tapped to replace him.
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who → oust → him
Huang, 63, branded Colette Kress 'a deer in the headlights' to her face during a meeting with Nvidia's top financial officers in August, an insider told the Wall Street Journal.
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insider → brand → Journal
At the time, Nvidia was considering backing billions of dollars in loans for smaller cloud and data-center companies that couldn't afford its chips in hopes of turning those firms into long-term customers.
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that → consider → customers
Kress, 59, was trying to offer solutions to the issue, but Huang repeatedly interrupted her presentation, the source said.
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source → try → presentation
He referred to Kress as a 'reporting CFO' and said she was not someone who could assist him in making strategic decisions, the insider reported.
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insider → refer → decisions
But Kress, who has worked at Nvidia since 2013, has now been appointed to take the reins as interim CEO as the company looks to appoint a permanent successor.
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company → work → successor
Huang, who has been married to his wife Lori for over 40 years, resigned from the firm on Thursday after revelations of his three extramarital affairs.
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who → resign → affairs
He admitted Sunday to having an affair with Alice Huang, a suspected Chinese spy.
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He → admit → Huang
He was also allegedly involved with Nvidia's vice president of health care, Kimberly Powell, and an unnamed third mistress who also worked alongside him at the AI giant.
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who → involve → giant
Former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, pictured with wife Lori earlier this year, tore into the finance executive who has now been tapped to replace him during an August strategy meeting
Huang branded Colette Kress, pictured, 'a deer in the headlights' and said she was a 'reporting CFO' that was not capable of assisting him with strategy decisions, according to a source familiar with the meeting
In a memo to staff Thursday, Kress reportedly praised Huang's contributions to Nvidia and vowed to continue 'building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years.'
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Jensen → picture → years
Despite his criticisms of her during their summertime meeting, Kress still defended Huang and the company's strategy for investing heavily in AI startups and cloud providers that then buy Nvidia's chips.
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that → defend → chips
'We recognize the scale of this support, and we know some will call this circular financing.
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some → recognize → this
We see it differently,' she said in August, according to WSJ.
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she → see → WSJ
'The equity returns on our invested capital will be excellent.'
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returns → invest → capital
She has previously described Huang as 'visionary' and 'essentially egoless' and, at an awards ceremony in 2018, even noted she was drawn to Nvidia because of him.
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she → describe → him
While his affairs have made his position untenable, Huang's creativity and vision was credited with turning Nvidia into a big tech behemoth whose success is vital to the health of the US economy, 401(k) balances and pensions worldwide.
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success → make → economy
Nvidia was founded by Huang in 1993 and listed on the stock market in 1999.
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Nvidia → found → 1999
It builds the ultra-sophisticated microchips used for artificial intelligence, with the current AI boom sending its stock price soaring.
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price → build → intelligence
His alleged affair with Powell would have violated the company's code of conduct, under which employees are told to 'avoid situations where our actions conflict' including 'personal relationships'.
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actions → violate → relationships
The two were reportedly captured on video being affectionate at a hotel in San Jose, California, during a Nvidia conference in March, two sources told the New York Times.
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sources → capture → Times
Huang seen with suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang in a bar in Taipei, Taiwan, in June 2024, moments after she allegedly boasted of her intimate access to him and told him to join her at the event
Huang was also allegedly involved with Nvidia's vice president of health care, Kimberly Powell.
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Huang → see → care
He is seen here with Powell
It is unclear when Huang began his relationship with Alice Huang, but reports allege that she would openly boast about how close she was to him as far back as June 2024.
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she → see → June
At a computer industry trade show in Taipei at the time, sources told the Wall Street Journal that she displayed her cozy relationship with Huang to executives by summoning him to a bar where they were drinking.
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they → tell → bar
Ms Huang, who is not related to Huang, reportedly told the group: 'Jensen's a great friend of mine,' and he arrived just a few minutes after she texted him to join them.
The artificial intelligence chief then showed up in his trademark leather jacket, and held court with the executives in the bar for some time as a picture was snapped of the Nvidia CEO and the alleged spy sat closely beside each other.
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CEO → relate → other
On another trip to Taipei in May 2025, Huang was again seen with Ms Huang at a dinner, where they were spotted kissing on the cheek and sharing touches on the arm, per the Wall Street Journal.
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they → see → Journal
In other images that have been unearthed following the scandal, the Nvidia CEO and alleged Chinese spy were seen raising wine glasses in a toast and sharing a smiling picture sat next to each other at other points during their relationship.
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CEO → unearth → relationship
US authorities launched an investigation into Ms Huang shortly after her company Megaspeed was accused of illegally diverting Nvidia's AI chips to China by subverting strict sanctions.
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company → launch → sanctions
She is feared to have passed high-tech Nvidia chips to Beijing after the US banned the firm from selling them to China over national security fears.
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US → fear → fears
The former Nvidia CEO, pictured in June, is also alleged to have been involved with an unnamed third mistress who also worked alongside him at the AI giant
US intelligence reportedly circulated a memo this spring alleging she was an asset of China's Ministry of State Security.
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she → picture → Security
Beijing has rejected the allegations.
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Beijing → reject → allegations
Authorities in Taiwan and Singapore have also investigated Ms Huang's alleged ties to Beijing's intelligence services.
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Authorities → investigate → services
On Thursday, Attorney General Todd Blanche was quizzed over the affair Huang had with Ms Huang.
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Huang → quiz → Huang
He said it would be inappropriate for him to comment.
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him → say → ?
Although Nvidia's share price has plummeted by around 14 percent over the past week thanks to Huang's affairs and the spying scandal, the company said in a press release announcing his resignation: 'Jensen's contributions to Nvidia are profound.
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contributions → plummet → Nvidia
The Board and the company thank Jensen for his immeasurable contributions to the company and the industry.'
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Board → thank → company
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