Months Before His Fall, Jensen Huang Called His CFO ‘a Deer in the Headlights.’ Now’s She’s Running Nvidia.

Huang reportedly belittled Colette Kress in front of Nvidia’s finance team. Guess who is having the last laugh? By Jonathan Small | edited by Dan Bova | Nov 13, 2026 This summer, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called a meeting with his top finance executives and reportedly tore into his CFO, Colette Kress. He interrupted her presentation to call her “a deer in the headlights,” according to The Wall Street Journal. Huang also reportedly said Kress was more of a numbers reporter than someone who could help set strategy. Now she has his old job. Kress was named interim CEO Thursday after Huang resigned amid revelations of two extramarital affairs, including one with a suspected Chinese spy. Kress had her own doubts about Huang’s decision-making. She reportedly questioned Nvidia’s push to back billions in financing for customers that couldn’t afford its chips, including deals led by Huang’s son-in-law. She also cut Nvidia’s initial commitment to a massive OpenAI data center deal in half. But no hard feelings, apparently. In a memo to staff, Kress praised her old boss and pledged to keep “building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created.” This summer, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called a meeting with his top finance executives and reportedly tore into his CFO, Colette Kress. He interrupted her presentation to call her “a deer in the headlights,” according to The Wall Street Journal. Huang also reportedly said Kress was more of a numbers reporter than someone who could help set strategy. Now she has his old job. Kress was named interim CEO Thursday after Huang resigned amid revelations of two extramarital affairs, including one with a suspected Chinese spy. Kress had her own doubts about Huang’s decision-making. She reportedly questioned Nvidia’s push to back billions in financing for customers that couldn’t afford its chips, including deals led by Huang’s son-in-law. She also cut Nvidia’s initial commitment to a massive OpenAI data center deal in half. But no hard feelings, apparently. In a memo to staff, Kress praised her old boss and pledged to keep “building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created.” Jonathan Small is a bestselling author, journalist, producer, and podcast host. For 25 years, he... Read more