Nvidia's Huang resigns as CEO, hours after traders doubted exit

Jensen Huang has resigned as Nvidia's chief executive, effective immediately, the company's board announced Thursday. The board named Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress interim CEO, according to Nvidia's statement, and Axios also reported the resignation.

The announcement answers the question that had hung over the company all week, and it accounts for a dramatic swing in bets on Thursday morning. Within minutes, an exit announcement by the end of Thursday went from unlikely to certain. An announcement by Friday, which had been a toss-up, went the same way, and so did every longer horizon, including the end of November, year-end, the end of March and before 2028. When this story began, traders did not expect an announcement before 2028 at all.

The path to that point was uneven. Exit bets surged late Wednesday, and an announcement by Thursday briefly looked all but certain that night before dropping back within minutes. Wednesday passed with no word from Huang or the company, and confidence faded overnight, leaving an announcement this week a toss-up by early Thursday and one that day in doubt. An announcement by the end of November was still considered likely through that slide.

The pressure on Huang built quickly. On Sunday he apologized for an extramarital affair and said he would cooperate with an independent investigation. Nvidia's board said then that it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets had been compromised, and it expressed confidence in Huang and his leadership team.

On Wednesday, The New York Times reported an alleged second relationship, with an Nvidia executive. The Wall Street Journal reported that the board was preparing to dismiss Huang, and Reuters reported that directors were meeting to decide his future. Those reports came before the first surge in exit bets.

Traders have also pulled back over the past day on bets that Nvidia will be the world's most valuable company at year-end, which was already considered unlikely.

The board's statement that Huang has resigned is the kind of definitive company announcement the bets required, so what remains for them is formal settlement. For Nvidia, the open question is who takes the job permanently. The company says it will search internally and externally for a permanent CEO. Its third-quarter results remain scheduled for Nov. 17, followed by an earnings call, the first under Kress as interim chief.