Jensen Huang reportedly called interim Nvidia CEO Colette Kress ‘a deer in the headlights’

Colette Kress has been running Nvidia’s money since 2013. She now runs the whole company, at least for the moment.

The timing of a fresh report is awkward. According to the Wall Street Journal, which cited an anonymous source, former CEO Jensen Huang privately described Kress as “a deer in the headlights” during a presentation earlier this summer.

What was reportedly said, and where

The remark reportedly came during a meeting with Nvidia’s finance team. The topic was a big one: the company’s plans to offer guarantees worth billions of dollars to data center operators that could not afford to pay for its chips upfront.

Per the Journal’s account, Huang also reportedly said Kress was not someone who could help him steer strategy or decision-making. The research compiled for this story places the meeting in August 2026. It frames the episode as a clash between Huang’s appetite for aggressive expansion and Kress’s more cautious approach to the books.

A sudden handoff after 33 years

According to the research findings, Huang resigned as Nvidia’s chief executive on November 12, 2026, ending a 33-year run at the top of the company he founded.

Nvidia named Kress, 59, interim CEO effective the same day. She keeps her CFO title as well, which means one person now holds the two jobs that, by the Journal’s account, Huang thought were in tension.

Kress came to Nvidia in September 2013. Before that, she held roles at Microsoft, Cisco, and Texas Instruments.

Caution as a feature, or a flaw

Under Kress’s financial oversight, Nvidia reportedly cut back an OpenAI-related financing plan from $250 billion to $120 billion because of internal concerns.

The chip guarantee plan discussed in the summer meeting fits the same pattern. Both deals involve Nvidia using its own balance sheet to help customers buy more of its products.

The research also notes that Nvidia faces a heavy load of supply commitments and continued scrutiny of its financial practices.

Who comes next

Kress holds the interim title, which signals that the board may still be shopping. The research findings list several names reportedly in discussion as potential permanent successors.

On the internal side, Ian Buck has been mentioned. External names reportedly floated include Lisa Su, who runs AMD, and Rene Haas, chief executive of Arm. None of these has been confirmed.

What this means for Nvidia and its stakeholders

The Journal’s report adds a specific wrinkle. Investors now have on record, via an anonymous source, a claim that the outgoing CEO doubted the strategic judgment of the person replacing him.

For customers, the more practical question is what happens to the financing programs themselves. If Kress’s caution shapes policy, data center operators counting on Nvidia guarantees may find terms tighter than expected.

The research flags that scrutiny of Nvidia’s deal structures could influence how tech firms approach vendor financing and oversight more generally.

The things to watch are concrete. One is whether Nvidia names a permanent CEO, and whether that person comes from inside or out. Another is whether the chip guarantee plan survives in its original form.