Bessent calls for outside CEO and leadership shakeup at Nvidia

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Nvidia should hire its next chief executive from outside the company and called for a “dramatic shakeup” in leadership following Jensen Huang’s departure. His recommendation would narrow Nvidia’s announced search, which includes both internal and external candidates.

Bessent also said the company’s board and outside counsel should provide answers within 10 days about Nvidia’s sales and compliance culture. Nvidia named Colette Kress interim CEO during the leadership transition.

Bessent alleged that Nvidia had developed a culture of noncompliance. He also questioned whether apparently illicit China-related sales had boosted revenue and earnings. Those statements are allegations, not established findings. None of the official records reviewed for this article determines that Nvidia violated export controls or improperly inflated its results, and the available sources do not identify a legal or administrative basis for Bessent’s 10-day request.

Nvidia’s Form 8-K says the board accepted Huang’s resignation as president, CEO and director on Nov. 11, effective immediately. The company said Kress would retain her finance responsibilities while serving as interim CEO and that the board had started its search for a permanent successor.

The leadership change is unfolding alongside a separate board inquiry into reported foreign-intelligence targeting of Huang. Nvidia’s board said it was investigating those reports while saying it had no reason to believe national security or company secrets were compromised. The independent directors later said they had retained outside counsel for that inquiry. The opened Nvidia statements do not disclose findings connecting the board inquiry to the export-control and sales questions raised by Bessent.