Jensen Huang served as the Chief Executive Officer of Nvidia for 33 years and 7 months (12,274 days), holding office from April 5, 1993 until stepping down on November 12, 2026. Following his transition, long-time Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress assumed leadership as Interim CEO while the board conducts a formal search.
Executive Succession & Corporate Facts
- Predecessor
- None (Founding CEO)
- Successor
- Colette Kress (Interim CEO)
- Global Tenure Rank
- #9 Longest-Serving CEO in Database (View Full Rankings →)
- Company Founded
- Apr 5, 1993 (Santa Clara, California)
- Known Aliases
- Jen-Hsun Huang, Huang Renxun
Tenure Milestones & Transition Timeline
Nvidia Founded
Co-founded Nvidia with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem; assumed President & CEO role from inception.
Initial Public Offering (IPO)
Led Nvidia to its NASDAQ IPO at $12 per share, inventing the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) later that year.
CUDA Architecture Launched
Pioneered general-purpose GPU computing platform CUDA, laying the computing foundation for the modern AI revolution.
World's Most Valuable Company
Nvidia reached an all-time high valuation exceeding $3.3 trillion, briefly surpassing Microsoft and Apple.
CEO Transition Announced
Stepped down as President and CEO after 33 years and 7 months (12,274 days); Colette Kress named Interim CEO.
Related Leaders & Rankings
Complete list of all historical and interim leaders at Nvidia.
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Compare against all 31 recorded corporate executives in our database.