From a Silicon Valley Denny’s Booth to $5 Trillion: Jensen Huang Exits $NVDA After 33 Years as Its Only CEO

Thirty-three years after co-founders Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem sketched out the vision for $NVDA over bottomless cups of coffee in a San Jose, California Denny’s booth in 1993, Huang stepped down on Nov. 12 as the only chief executive the chipmaker has ever had.
$NVDA survived early chip setbacks and near-bankruptcy before going public in January 1999 at $12 per share, eventually becoming the first company to cross both the $4 trillion and $5 trillion market-capitalization milestones. By contrast, Denny’s—which installed a commemorative plaque at the founders' booth in September 2023—was taken private in January 2026 in a roughly $620 million buyout by TriArtisan Capital Advisors, Yadav Enterprises, and Treville Capital Group, valuing $NVDA at its $5 trillion peak at more than 8,000 times the diner chain's sale price.
Huang’s abrupt resignation as president, CEO, and board member followed a Nov. 8 internal message in which he apologized for being unfaithful to his wife amid reports of relationships with company employees and national-security scrutiny surrounding Alice Huang, whom U.S. officials suspect of working for Chinese intelligence. Huang has denied compromising national security or company secrets.
$NVDA appointed Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent successor among internal and external candidates, and named Harvey C. Jones as its first-ever chair of the board. Co-founder Chris Malachowsky remains with the company as an Nvidia Fellow.
Ahead of its quarterly earnings report scheduled for Nov. 17, $NVDA’s market value dropped from roughly $5.78 trillion on Oct. 6 to $4.51 trillion by Nov. 6 as investors weighed the leadership transition.