Does Nvidia CFO Colette Kress Take Over If Jensen Huang Leaves?

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction), had an affair with Alice Huang (also known as Huang Le), a former executive at the Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed, and she is also a Chinese citizen. It appears she was a Chinese spy. Megaspeed was also a chip buyer. In fact, according to the FT, she was “recruited to spy for China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) intelligence agency.” Nvidia’s board has opened an investigation. Of course, among other matters, the question is whether Jensen Huang told her anything she might have used to help China procure Nvidia chips. Alternatively, he might have revealed information the Nvidia board or the US government would consider confidential and damaging to the national interest, or violated regulations meant to keep China from learning about the US chip industry or chip architecture.

According to The New York Times, Marco Rubio, the American Secretary of State, knew about the relationship as early as last spring, when it was shared with some US government officials. It said Alice Huang was recruited months ago, and that Jensen Huang was the target. It is unclear what she was supposed to find out and whether she had any success with her mission. At some point, President Trump became aware of the problem, but said nothing. The Times had been investigating the facts for months as well. The Times said some of its investigation’s findings were denied.

Most people who closely follow Nvidia said there is no chance of him being fired. They also say Huang is unlikely to have revealed anything important about his chips or anything that would compromise US security rules.

But what if he does get fired?

One person the board might turn to as CEO is Colette Kress, Nvidia’s EVP and CFO. She has held her job since 2013, which makes her one of the company’s longest-serving senior executives. “The CFO leadership at Nvidia from Colette Kress has been instrumental in Nvidia’s success with Wall Street, and is key to Jensen’s vision,” Dan Ives, managing partner at Wedbush Securities, recently told Fortune. Stephen C. Neal is Lead Independent Director and Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. He is the logical person to take the position of Nvidia Executive Chair.

There is no reason to think Kress would keep the CEO job for more than a short time. However, if Huang leaves, Nvidia needs stability. Several gifted, senior technologists report to Huang, so chip development would likely continue unimpeded.

What Nvidia would probably lose, if Jensen leaves, is access to the highest levels of the US government, and obviously others which include China. Does that hurt Nvidia’s earnings or share price in the future? That is the large, open question.

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