Who Is Colette Kress? Prominent Executive Named Nvidia's New Interim Ceo.

Nvidia (NVDA) CFO Colette Kress has been named interim CEO after Jensen Huang stepped down amid allegations of an affair with a Chinese spy and a company executive.

Kress, one of Nvidia's more prominent executives, joined the company in 2013 and helped guide its financial success, transforming it from a video game company into the AI juggernaut it is today.

In a statement, Kress said she is committed to building on the work Jensen has done to turn Nvidia into the company it has become.

"We will continue advancing the work that has made Nvidia a leader in accelerated computing and AI, and execute on the opportunities ahead. Our focus remains on serving our customers, partners, developers and shareholders," she said.

Kress regularly provides financial updates during Nvidia's quarterly earnings call, making her well-known among analysts and investors.

Prior to joining the company, Kress served as senior vice president and CFO for Cisco's (CSCO) Business Technology and Operations Finance group, according to her Nvidia biography.

Before joining Cisco, she held positions at Microsoft (MSFT) for 13 years, including as CFO of the company's Server and Tools group. She also worked at Texas Instruments (TXN) in several roles.

"Colette has helped lead Nvidia through a period of extraordinary growth and has a deep understanding of our business, customers, operations and financial position," newly appointed Nvidia board chair Harvey Jones said in a statement.

"She is supported by an experienced leadership team that has been instrumental in executing Nvidia's strategy and advancing its technology roadmap. The board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team, and we expect the company's operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption," he added.

Kress succeeds Huang, who is embroiled in two alleged affairs: one with a suspected Chinese spy and another with Nvidia executive Kimberly Powell.

On Sunday, Huang issued a statement admitting to the initial affair, apologizing to his family and Nvidia employees.

According to reports, the woman Huang was seeing, Alice Huang, was a top executive at Singapore-based technology firm MegaSpeed and was allegedly acting as a spy on behalf of the Chinese government.

Nvidia's board has said it has launched an independent investigation into the matter, but added it has no reason to believe Nvidia trade secrets or national security were compromised.

Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on X at @DanielHowley or reach out on Signal or Telegram.