Meet Colette Kress, the finance chief steering Nvidia through its first CEO transition

• Nvidia has named chief financial officer Colette Kress interim CEO after Jensen Huang resigned.
• Huang exited as Nvidia's board probed a foreign intelligence effort and his alleged affairs.
• Kress, seen as a potential successor, previously held finance roles at Cisco and Microsoft.

Nvidia's longtime finance chief Colette Kress has been named interim CEO as a widening scandal brings Jensen Huang's 33-year tenure to an end.

Kress's appointment on Thursday follows Huang's resignation, which the board said was effective immediately.

The board said it is initiating a search for a permanent CEO and will "consider internal and external candidates."

Huang stepped down after Nvidia's board opened an investigation into whether he was the target of a "foreign intelligence effort." He also admitted to being unfaithful to his wife in a memo.

The New York Times reported that Huang had romantic relationships with Alice Huang, an executive at Nvidia customer Megaspeed — whom US intelligence officials identified as a suspected Chinese spy — as well as Kimberly Powell, an Nvidia employee who served as vice president of healthcare.

Insiders and analysts had previously pointed to Kress as a likely successor to Huang, citing her visibility among shareholders. She has worked at Nvidia for 13 years, joining in September 2013 and helping to lead the company's finances through the AI boom.

"NVIDIA's strength has always come from its people, and together with our leadership team, I am committed to building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years," Kress said in a statement on Thursday.

Huang maintained a flat leadership structure with as many as 60 direct reports, and said he wanted to keep working for as long as possible, which complicated succession planning.

Prior to joining Nvidia, Kress held finance positions at Cisco and Microsoft. She has also served at Texas Instruments in a variety of finance positions.

Kress reported directly to Huang, Business Insider previously reported.