Who is Colette Kress: A new chapter has begun in the global tech world after the sudden resignation of Jensen Huang, co-founder and long-time CEO of Nvidia, the world's most valuable Artificial Intelligence (AI) chip maker. The company's board of directors has appointed Nvidia's experienced Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Vice President Colette Kress as the company's interim CEO to maintain stability during this period of crisis. She will lead the company in addition to her current CFO responsibilities until the Board selects a permanent new CEO. While Jensen Huang has been the public face of Nvidia's product and technology strategy, Colette Cress has been behind the scenes for the past 13 years and has been considered the biggest architect of the company's financial strength and historic expansion. 1. Played a decisive role in taking Nvidia from $4.13 billion to $215.9 billion Colette Cress joined Nvidia in September 2013 as Executive Vice President and CFO. At the time, Nvidia was a medium-sized company primarily making gaming graphics cards, with annual revenues of just $4.13 billion. Kress's financial leadership and strategic investments have helped Nvidia establish itself as the global AI revolution and the undisputed leader of data center chips, driving annual revenue to a historic high of $215.9 billion in fiscal 2026. According to Wall Street analysts, transparent communication with investors and precise financial planning have contributed significantly to Nvidia's entry into the $4 trillion valuation club. 2. Over 25 Years of Experience at Microsoft, Cisco and Texas Instruments Born in the US in 1967, 59-year-old Colette Cress has over three decades of deep experience in the technology and semiconductor industry. Even before joining Nvidia, he had worked for about 25 years in the finance departments of big tech companies. He started his career at Texas Instruments, where he held various finance positions for eight years. After this, she spent 13 years at Microsoft from 1997 to 2010 and was the CFO of the company's most important 'Server and Tools' division. Immediately before joining Nvidia, she served as Senior Vice President of Business Technology and Operations Finance and CFO at networking giant Cisco for three years. 3. Higher education of Finance and MBA, know special things related to personal life. Talking about educational qualification, Colette Cress has obtained Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Finance from University of Arizona, America. He then completed his MBA in Finance from the prestigious Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University between 1994 and 1996. In her personal life, Colette Kress is married to David Kress, who has been a business operations manager at Microsoft. The couple have two sons and despite a busy corporate schedule, Kress is known in Silicon Valley as a calm, disciplined and family-oriented leader. 4. Net worth of more than ₹ 7,000 crore, among the richest self-made women of America, Colette Cress has earned immense wealth on the basis of her ability and equity of Nvidia, despite not being the founder of any company. According to the company's 2026 proxy filing, he holds about 44.4 lakh (4.44 million) shares of Nvidia. According to the current price of the stock market, the value of his stake is estimated to be around $ 750 to 772 million (about more than ₹ 7,000 crore in Indian Rupees), while in October 2025 and June 2026, when Nvidia's stock was at its highest level, his total wealth had crossed $ 1.2 billion (more than ₹ 11,000 crore). Forbes has ranked her 32nd in the list of 'America's Richest Self-Made Women' of 2026, while Fortune has ranked her 49th in the list of Most Powerful Women of 2026. 5. What are the biggest challenges facing Colette Cress as interim CEO? With the assumption of the role of interim CEO, very sensitive and huge responsibilities have fallen on the shoulders of Colette Cress. The first challenge will be to restore investor and customer confidence following Jensen Huang's resignation, as Nvidia's shares have seen huge volatility in recent weeks amid reports of a leadership crisis. Apart from this, dealing with the restrictions on chip exports amid US-China trade tensions, facing the antitrust investigation of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and presenting the company's quarterly results to be released on November 17 will be important tests for him. The Board believes that Colette Cress, with her knowledge of all financial and operational aspects of Nvidia, is the best leader to safely guide the Company through this transition period.
