---
title: Colette Kress, Nvidia's Finance Chief Since 2013, Takes Charge Five Days Before Third-Quarter Results
description: Colette Kress, Nvidia's CFO since 2013, is interim CEO after Jensen Huang's resignation, with third-quarter results due on 17 November. Her career and pay.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-11-12T17:51:11.498Z
updated: 2026-11-12T17:58:41.132Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/colette-kress-nvidia-interim-ceo
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/colette-kress-nvidia-interim-ceo.webp
categories: CEO Profiles, Leadership
content_type: Profile
region: United States
publication: Sovereign Magazine
about:
  - type: Person
    name: Colette Kress
    description: Colette Kress has been Nvidia's chief financial officer since September 2013 and became its interim chief executive in November 2026, after earlier finance roles at Texas Instruments, Microsoft and Cisco.
    jobTitle: Interim chief executive and chief financial officer
    worksFor: Nvidia
  - type: Organization
    name: Nvidia
    description: Nvidia is a US technology company that designs the graphics processors and AI chips used in data centers, gaming and cloud computing.
---

Colette Kress, who has run Nvidia's finances since September 2013, became the company's interim chief executive on Thursday after [Jensen Huang resigned and left the board](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/jensen-huang-resigns-nvidia). She stays on as chief financial officer as well, while Nvidia's board decides who should run the company permanently.

Nvidia reports its third-quarter results on Tuesday, 17 November, the first with Kress in charge, against its own forecast of $108 billion in revenue, plus or minus 2%.

Nvidia shares opened more than 13% lower on Thursday and were at $165.56 at 12:49pm New York time, 4.7% below Wednesday's close of $173.73, according to Yahoo Finance. At that price Nvidia was worth about $4 trillion.

## Kress Joined Nvidia From Cisco in 2013 After 13 Years at Microsoft

Kress spent eight years in finance jobs at Texas Instruments before she moved to Microsoft in 1997. She stayed there until 2010, from 2006 as chief financial officer of its Server and Tools division, and then joined Cisco as senior vice president and chief financial officer of its Business Technology and Operations Finance group. There she was responsible for financial strategy, planning, reporting and business development for all of Cisco's business segments, engineering and operations.

[Nvidia hired her](https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-appoints-colette-kress-as-chief-financial-officer) as chief financial officer and an executive vice president in September 2013, when she was 46, and she reported to Huang. "We have searched extensively for the right candidate and are thrilled to have Colette join us," Huang said at the time. "She brings fantastic experience, excellent financial management skills and deep industry knowledge to NVIDIA."

She has a degree in finance from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Southern Methodist University, and she was 58 in February, according to Nvidia's annual report. Fortune ranked her 49th on this year's Most Powerful Women list, which she has made three times.

## Nvidia's Yearly Revenue Rose From $4.13 Billion to $215.9 Billion While Kress Was Finance Chief

In the year to January 2014, which ended four months after she arrived, Nvidia had revenue of $4.13 billion. In the year to January 2026 it had $215.9 billion, up 65% on the year before and about 52 times the earlier figure.

According to Nvidia's proxy statement, Kress received $14.3 million in pay for the year to January 2026, most of it in stock awards valued at $12.8 million, against $21.4 million the year before, and she held about 4.4 million shares in March, less than 1% of the company. At Thursday's 12:49pm price those shares were worth about $736 million.

## Kress Inherits a $108 Billion Forecast and an Unfinished Board Investigation

Nvidia issued the forecast on 26 August, when it reported second-quarter revenue of $96.2 billion and referred investors to Kress's commentary on the quarter. The company also expects gross margins of 74%, plus or minus half a percentage point.

On 10 November Nvidia's independent directors hired Joon H. Kim and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to run the board's investigation, and Nvidia did not say on Thursday whether that work will continue. The request from three House committee chairs for a closed-door briefing on 18 November was addressed to Huang, and Nvidia has not said whether Kress or anyone else will attend instead.

Kress told staff in a letter on Thursday that Nvidia plays "a vital role in building the technology that is powering the AI revolution", and she will address employees on 18 November, Semafor reported.

## Nvidia's Board Will Consider Internal and External Candidates to Succeed Huang

Kress is not on the board, which said on Thursday that it will look at "internal and external candidates" for the permanent job. Harvey C. Jones, whom it named chair the same day, said Kress "has helped lead NVIDIA through a period of extraordinary growth" and that the board has "full confidence" in her.

Bernstein's analysts, who rate the shares Market Perform with a $200 price target, wrote to clients that "Colette should be able to keep things running for now", and that they were not "really worried about near-term impacts to the business."

> "To steady the ship, she's the one."
> — Dan Ives, Yorkville Ives & Co

Dan Ives of Yorkville Ives & Co made that remark on Thursday. He expects Kress to serve as interim chief executive for about a year before the board picks someone from outside Nvidia. Ives, who has a $225 price target on the shares, also said Kress "has built enormous credibility internally and externally" and that "we always believed she would eventually be CEO of a major public tech company."

Semafor, which reported on Wednesday night that some directors wanted Kress as interim chief executive if Huang were removed, said on Thursday, citing an unnamed source, that Johny Srouji, who leads chip development at Apple, is being considered for the permanent job.

On Polymarket, a prediction market, traders gave Kress about a 21% chance of being named permanent chief executive at midday in New York on Thursday, behind Nvidia executive Ian Buck at about 34%.

Bob Swan, Intel's finance chief, became its interim chief executive when Brian Krzanich resigned in June 2018, and Intel's board named him to the post permanently in January 2019, seven months later.

## FAQ

**Q: How old is Colette Kress?**
Kress was 58 in February 2026, according to Nvidia's annual report for the year to January 2026. She was 46 when Nvidia named her chief financial officer in September 2013, and she became interim chief executive on 12 November 2026 after Jensen Huang resigned.

**Q: Where did Colette Kress go to college?**
Kress has a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Southern Methodist University. Before Nvidia she worked in finance at Texas Instruments for eight years, then at Microsoft from 1997 to 2010 and at Cisco from 2010 to 2013.

**Q: How much does the CFO of NVIDIA make?**
Kress, who remains chief financial officer while she is interim chief executive, received $14.3 million in total pay for the year to January 2026, according to Nvidia's proxy statement. Most of it was stock awards valued at $12.8 million. Her salary was $898,577, and she received a $600,000 cash incentive payment. Her total for the previous year was $21.4 million.