Texas Instruments, Microsoft, Cisco, then Nvidia: The finance career behind Colette Kress, Nvidia’s new interim CEO after Jensen Huang’s resignation

Colette Kress spent about 25 years working in finance at major technology companies before joining Nvidia in 2013. Now, after Jensen Huang resigned, she has been named interim chief executive of the chipmaker, putting her in charge of a company that has grown into one of the biggest players in the artificial intelligence industry.

Nvidia announced on Thursday that Huang had resigned as president, CEO and a member of the board, effective immediately. Kress, who has served as the company's executive vice president and chief financial officer since 2013, will take over as interim CEO while continuing in her finance role.

Her career before joining Nvidia included senior positions at Texas Instruments, Microsoft and Cisco, that gave her experience across several major technology businesses.

Nvidia interim CEO Colette Kress spent eight years at Texas Instruments before joining Microsoft

Kress began her career in the technology industry at Texas Instruments, where she spent eight years in finance roles.

She joined Microsoft in 1997 and remained with the company until 2010. During those 13 years, she held several senior finance positions, including four years as chief financial officer of its Server and Tools division, a role she took up in 2006, as per a Reuters report.

Kress moved to Cisco in 2010, joining as senior vice president and finance chief for its Business Technology and Operations Finance organisation. Her responsibilities included financial strategy, planning, reporting and business development across the company's business segments, engineering and operations.

She spent three years at Cisco before joining Nvidia in September 2013.

Kress holds a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

Colette Kress joined Nvidia as CFO in 2013

Nvidia had appointed Kress as executive vice president and chief financial officer in September 2013. She held the position since then and working alongside Huang as the company expanded its business.

The scale of that growth is reflected in Nvidia's revenue, it stood at $4.13 billion in the fiscal year Kress joined the company and reached $215.9 billion in fiscal 2026, according to Reuters report.

As CFO, Kress has been a regular presence during the company's financial results announcements, discussing its performance, spending and business outlook with investors.

Colette Kress takes over as Nvidia's interim CEO after Jensen Huang's departure

Nvidia's board has appointed Kress to lead the company on an interim basis following Huang's resignation. The company said she would continue as CFO while serving as interim CEO.

The board is beginning a search for a permanent chief executive and will consider both internal and external candidates. So Kress's appointment doesn't mean she has been named Nvidia's permanent CEO.

Board chair Harvey C. Jones said Kress had helped lead Nvidia through a period of extraordinary growth and had a deep understanding of its business, customers, operations and financial position.

Kress said she was committed to building on the foundation Huang had created over 33 years.

Her appointment puts a longtime Nvidia executive at the helm during the leadership transition. She brings experience from three major technology companies before her 13-year tenure as Nvidia's CFO, but the board has yet to announce who will take the position permanently