To The Moon

Jensen Huang built $NVIDIA(NVDA)$ into the centre of the artificial intelligence revolution. Now, after more than three decades leading the company, he is gone.

Nvidia has officially confirmed that Huang has resigned as President, CEO and a member of its board, effective immediately. CFO Colette Kress has been appointed interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent successor. Harvey C. Jones, a director since 1993, has also been appointed as the company’s first-ever board chair.

This is a remarkable leadership change for a company that has been closely associated with one person throughout its history.

But the bigger question for investors is not simply who will replace Huang. It is whether Nvidia can maintain the vision, commercial relationships and financial influence that helped create the AI boom.

1. Why Jensen Huang’s departure matters so much

Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and transformed it from a graphics-card company into a leading supplier of accelerated computing and AI infrastructure.

His biggest achievement was recognising the potential of GPUs beyond video games.

Nvidia invested heavily in general-purpose computing and developed CUDA, a software platform that allowed developers to use GPUs for a much wider range of applications.

That decision helped establish Nvidia’s competitive advantage long before generative AI became mainstream.

Under Huang’s leadership, Nvidia became one of the world’s most valuable companies. Its shares generated extraordinary returns since its 1999 IPO, and its GPUs became essential infrastructure for many AI developers.

Huang was also deeply involved in the company’s strategy, product roadmap, customer relationships and major commercial partnerships.

That level of involvement created enormous momentum, but it also raises questions about succession.

Reports indicated that he had dozens of direct reports and that Nvidia lacked a clearly established succession plan.

Replacing a CEO is one challenge. Replacing someone who has influenced almost every major part of the business is another.

2. Colette Kress inherits a much bigger challenge than managing finances

Nvidia has appointed Colette Kress as interim CEO.

Kress joined Nvidia in 2013 as CFO and has been part of the company’s extraordinary growth. She has extensive experience in financial management and understands its customers, operations and business model.

Her appointment provides continuity during an uncertain period.

However, Huang’s responsibilities extended far beyond financial management.

He was Nvidia’s public face, technology strategist and one of the industry’s most influential dealmakers.

Investors will want to know who will lead the company’s long-term technology direction, manage relationships with major customers and negotiate future strategic partnerships.

The board has confirmed that it will consider both internal and external candidates for the permanent CEO position.

Until that decision is made, the leadership transition remains an important source of uncertainty.

3. The biggest risk could be the wider AI ecosystem

One particularly interesting part of Huang’s leadership was Nvidia’s willingness to invest in companies across its supply chain and customer network.

Nvidia has backed AI developers, infrastructure providers and technology partners, helping accelerate demand for its own products.

Its investments and commercial arrangements have involved companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, CoreWeave and other AI infrastructure businesses.

This strategy created a powerful network effect.

Nvidia supplied the chips, invested in parts of the ecosystem and helped customers secure the infrastructure needed to expand their AI operations.

However, critics have raised concerns about circular financing.

When a chip supplier invests in customers or supports their financing, investors need to examine whether the resulting demand reflects sustainable end-user spending or depends partly on continued funding from the supplier.

This does not mean the arrangements are necessarily problematic. They may help accelerate infrastructure development and create long-term commercial opportunities.

But Huang’s departure could lead to closer scrutiny of how these deals are structured, how risks are allocated and whether Nvidia should continue supporting the ecosystem at the same scale.

A new CEO may take a different approach to capital allocation and strategic investments.

4. Does Nvidia still have a competitive moat?

Despite the leadership uncertainty, Nvidia’s underlying business has not disappeared.

The company still has several important advantages:

• Technology: Its GPUs remain central to many advanced AI workloads.

• CUDA ecosystem: Developers have invested heavily in software and tools built around Nvidia’s platform.

• Customer relationships: Major cloud providers and technology companies rely on Nvidia’s hardware.

• Product roadmap: Nvidia has an established engineering organisation and a substantial pipeline of future products.

Competitors such as AMD and Broadcom are developing alternatives, while major technology companies are increasingly investing in custom AI chips.

However, replacing Nvidia across an entire AI infrastructure system is not simply a matter of purchasing a different processor. Software compatibility, networking, performance and developer support all matter.

The real test is whether Nvidia’s organisational strength can continue delivering innovation without Huang personally directing so much of the business.

5. What should investors watch next?

I would focus on four developments:

• Permanent CEO appointment: Will Nvidia promote an internal executive or bring in an external leader? The decision could influence confidence in its long-term strategy.

• Strategic investments: Will Nvidia maintain its existing investment commitments and financing arrangements, or become more selective?

• Customer demand: Are major customers continuing to place orders because AI infrastructure spending is commercially justified?

• Quarterly results: Nvidia’s next earnings report on November 17 will be especially important. Investors will want reassurance that demand, revenue growth and future guidance remain strong.

Wall Street is already divided. Some analysts believe Nvidia’s product leadership and existing customer commitments can protect its near-term business. Others have downgraded the stock because of uncertainty around leadership, investigations and future strategic direction.

My view

I believe the most important distinction is between Nvidia’s business and Jensen Huang’s personal influence.

The company has thousands of employees, an established engineering organisation, valuable intellectual property and an extensive customer ecosystem. Those strengths do not disappear because its founder has resigned.

However, Huang was more than an ordinary CEO. He helped create the market, built relationships across the technology industry and used strategic investments to accelerate the development of the AI ecosystem.

That influence will be difficult to replace immediately.

I would be particularly interested in whether Nvidia continues its aggressive investment and financing strategy under new leadership. If those arrangements become more conservative, some companies that benefited from Nvidia’s financial support may need to find alternative sources of funding.

For Nvidia shareholders, the next chapter will be about proving that the company’s competitive advantage belongs to the organisation, not just the individual who built it.

The AI boom may continue, but the way it is financed and supported could change significantly.

For discussion purposes only.