Nvidia investor slams Trump’s pick of Tim Cook to replace Jensen Huang: ‘I’m not sure he knows what AI does’

A leading investor in Nvidia has rejected President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Apple’s Tim Cook should succeed Jensen Huang following his resignation, expressing doubt that Cook even “knows what AI does.” Huang, 63, stepped down Thursday as CEO of the $4 trillion chipmaker, whose hardware is powering the global artificial intelligence boom, after it was reported he had engaged in at least three extramarital affairs, one of which was with a woman whom the U.S. intelligence services believe is a Chinese spy. Nvidia’s share price lost an estimated 13 percent of its value early Thursday amid the uncertainty surrounding Huang’s future before the company announced his departure and that CFO Collette Kress would be taking over as his interim replacement, inspiring a rebound. Amid the immediate fallout, Trump weighed in on Truth Social to say there was “only one man” to replace Huang, naming Apple’s chairman of the board and former CEO with the comment: “A Legend replaces a Legend.” However, his opinion was not shared by Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki, a California wealth management fund that has invested in Nvidia for more than 15 years and kept a close eye on the company.Tim Cook has been tipped to succeed Jensen Huang as Nvidia CEO by President Donald Trump but investors in the chipmaker are not convinced (Reuters)Speaking to the BBC’s deputy economics editor Dharshini David on Radio 4’s Today program Friday, Gerber was asked who should be Huang’s permanent successor.“It definitely shouldn’t be Tim Cook because this is the guy who actually missed AI for Apple and I’m not sure if even he knows what AI does but that is not who I want running Nvidia,” he answered.“I think the best thing for Nvidia is somebody inside the company who has worked with all the management – like Colette right now, I think, is a great pick. There’s other leaders inside Nvidia that I think the board should look at and I think I prefer internal promotions.”Asked whether he believed Huang had allowed himself to succumb to the “myth of the superstar CEO,” Gerber agreed that he had.“Jensen was definitely one of my business heroes and so to see him go down like this and [with] such an amazing legacy, it’s really depressing and disappointing, but it’s also the nature of the beast,” he said. “It seems like many of these people, as they become more like rock stars, start kind of acting like them and that just doesn’t jive with modern society.Nvidia has named CFO Colette Kress as its interim CEO following Huang’s resignation Thursday (Nvidia/ Reuters)“Unfortunately for Jensen he’s got to go but I think Nvidia has a deep bench of great management and they’ll mostly be fine.”Asked what Nvidia will look like without the man who had co-founded it in 1993 and led it ever since, Gerber predicted: “It looks the exact same other than not having a great spokesperson and salesperson, not only to the media and to customers but just being a very loved business figure in a world of business figures who are roundly hated – Jensen kind of seemed like a breath of fresh air. “It’s a sad and disappointing day for Nvidia’s shareholders but I don’t think he makes or breaks the AI trade or I don’t think anybody canceled their Nvidia orders for chips over this.”He compared Huang’s scandalous downfall to that of another of his personal heroes, golfer Tiger Woods, while suggesting there could be a way back for Huang once the present storm “blows over” and that his relationship with the company may not be “permanently over.”Gerber stressed that he was impressed with Kress as a stand-in, calling her: “The right person for the role in the meantime.”