Nvidia courts Arm CEO amid post-Huang turmoil

Nvidia’s board has approached Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas as a potential permanent replacement for co-founder Jensen Huang, who has stepped down as CEO, president and board member effective immediately. Haas is described as one of several candidates under consideration, and there is no guarantee he will be offered the job or accept it. During the search, Nvidia chief financial officer Colette Kress is serving as interim CEO, while longtime director Harvey Jones has been appointed the company’s first-ever board chair.

Haas has led the SoftBank-backed chip designer Arm since 2022 and previously spent seven years at Nvidia as vice president and general manager of its computing products business. He maintains strong relationships with Huang and some Nvidia board members, which has helped put him on the shortlist of potential successors. The process remains open, and Haas is one of multiple internal and external contenders being evaluated.

The approach to Haas comes just days after a tumultuous week marked by Huang’s abrupt exit from Nvidia after a 33-year run at the company he co-founded. On Sunday, Huang admitted to an affair following reports of his relationship with Alice Huang, who is suspected of spying for China. Nvidia’s board initially expressed confidence in him, but by Thursday it had accepted his resignation. Reuters also reported that Huang had an intimate relationship with a second company employee.

Huang’s departure has also intersected with political and legal scrutiny. He has agreed to testify before Congress before Thanksgiving, as lawmakers increase their focus on his links with Alice Huang and the related security and defense concerns.

Nvidia’s leadership transition is unfolding amid mounting internal friction. An internal social media letter, purportedly signed by Nvidia staff and circulating on X, has demanded the board’s resignation and Huang’s reinstatement. The letter accuses company leadership of negotiating in bad faith and jeopardizing decades of progress achieved under Huang.

The same missive warns that top leadership and other staff may resign and join SpaceX Terafab if Huang is not brought back. Reports say Nvidia’s top leadership has threatened to quit to join the initiative, and that Elon Musk has assured potential defectors that positions would be available. An earlier internal suggestion-box post by a longtime Nvidia engineer had urged the board to consider employee sentiment before taking drastic action on leadership.

Investors have reacted sharply as events unfolded. Nvidia shares dropped nearly 30% over the past 30 days and touched a new 52-week low of $148.80 at Thursday’s open. NVDA stock has lost about 13.4% year-to-date, even as retail sentiment on at least one social platform was described as ‘extremely bullish’ with very high chatter around the stock. On the same platform, some users voiced support for reinstating Huang as CEO.

Beyond Haas, Wall Street is zeroing in on a broader field of potential long-term successors. Internal candidate Ian Buck, Nvidia’s vice president of hyperscale and high-performance computing, has been highlighted, with prediction markets assigning roughly a 40% chance that he could take over. Nvidia co-founder Chris Malachowsky has also been cited as a possible CEO, while Polymarket bettors placed a 5% chance on former Apple CEO Tim Cook being selected. These discussions underline the uncertainty around Nvidia’s future leadership as the board weighs its options.