Nvidia Names Colette Kress Interim CEO as Bitcoin Slips Below $73,000

Nvidia said Huang’s departure took effect immediately and appointed Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress as interim CEO while it searches for a permanent replacement. The board also named Harvey C. Jones, a longtime technology executive and former Synopsys chief executive, as its first chairman.

The company’s board had initially defended Huang and announced an independent investigation into whether he had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation. In a November 8 statement, Nvidia said it had no reason to believe national security or confidential company information had been compromised. Huang acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife in a message to employees on Sunday and apologized to his family and colleagues.

Reports concerned relationships with Alice Huang, an executive associated with Singapore-based Megaspeed International, which buys Nvidia processors, and Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare, who reported directly to Huang. The New York Times reported that US intelligence officials suspected Alice Huang of gathering information for China and that authorities were examining whether Megaspeed had helped Chinese companies obtain advanced chips restricted by US export controls. Nvidia shares fell more than 8% in extended trading after reports that directors were preparing to remove Huang. On Thursday, Nasdaq 100 futures were down around 1%.

Kress, who joined Nvidia in September 2013, will retain her CFO role while overseeing daily operations. Before Nvidia, she spent nearly 25 years in finance positions at companies including Cisco and Microsoft. Jones said the board had confidence in Kress and the leadership team, and expected customer commitments, operations and product development to continue without interruption. Kress said she was committed to building on Huang’s foundation and maintaining Nvidia’s position in accelerated computing and AI. The company said its third-quarter fiscal 2027 results would be released November 17, followed by an earnings call.

Bitcoin’s decline below $73,000 followed a brief move above $74,500 earlier on November 12, amid ongoing selling pressure, withdrawals from US spot Bitcoin ETFs and weakness in technology stocks. Hilbert Group Chief Investment Officer Russell Thompson warned that further losses in AI and semiconductor shares could prompt investors to sell crypto to meet margin calls. He identified $71,900 as support and said Bitcoin could fall toward $65,000 if it failed to hold that level.

The selloff also touched companies linked to Nvidia’s AI infrastructure business: CoreWeave fell around 6% in after-hours trading, while AMD and Broadcom gained approximately 4% and 3%. Nvidia is pursuing major infrastructure projects, including a 20-year data center agreement involving OpenAI and an Ohio facility backed by up to $105 billion in guarantees. Bitcoin miners expanding into AI computing also face financing demands. BlocksBridge Consulting estimated a roughly $50 billion funding gap across planned projects in June; Lookonchain said public companies sold 108,247 BTC, worth about $8.08 billion, during 2026, with MARA Holdings and Riot Platforms accounting for more than half.