Good morning. NVIDIA is the latest Fortune 500 company to appoint a Chief Financial Officer to serve in a temporary CEO role.

The AI giant appointed its Chief Financial Officer, Colette Kress, as the interim CEO, to succeed co-founder and long-time leader Jensen Huang. Huang resigned on Thursday after admitting to an extramarital affair that raised concerns regarding national security. While taking over NVIDIA, Kress will continue to hold the position of financial officer.

The co-managing partner of the headhunting firm Crist Kolder Associates, Scott W, Simmons, told me, Kress, "You are very suitable for the temporary position of CEO." Simmons stated that, as a senior executive who has been with the company for 13 years, she has a thorough understanding of its ins and outs, and she is also a respected spokesperson with credibility among investors.

During her tenure at Kress, NVIDIA's transformation has been incredibly remarkable. Since her joining in 2013, the company's revenue has grown from $4.13 billion in fiscal year 2014 to $130.5 billion in fiscal year 2025, and its market value has soared from approximately $9 billion to nearly $4 trillion today, representing an increase of about 44,000%. Kress ranked 49th on Fortune's list of the most influential women of 2026.

The first time I interviewed Kress in 2022, we talked about her previous experiences at Cisco, Microsoft, and Texas Instruments, as well as how NVIDIA attracts and retains its employees.

At that time, she said to me, "I believe my professional background has indeed benefited me greatly at NVIDIA. When I joined NVIDIA, it was the smallest company I had ever worked for. Now it has grown quite large, but the key is how you think about the future and ensuring that we are ready for scaling up."

She also talked about her leadership style, emphasizing the need to have people around her who “you can learn from; people who can help you lead.”

The company has not publicly disclosed any succession plans. Simmons indicates that replacing founder CEO is particularly difficult, as he has been involved in executive recruitment for nearly 30 years. This task becomes even more complex in a company like NVIDIA, where long-term leaders already enjoy a star-like reputation.

He said, "When you're talking about cutting-edge technology that evolves at the speed of light, you're looking for someone who can catch the ball and push it forward on the field, and that's very difficult."

As a temporary CEO, Kress must assist NVIDIA in completing the leadership transition at this critical moment in the AI industry. This company plays a key role in shaping the future of this technology in the United States and other regions.

Whether she will ultimately become the official leader of the company is another question. Simmons predicts that NVIDIA's board of directors will look for a technical expert to replace Huang. In the meantime, NVIDIA has appointed Harvey Jones as the chairman of the board of directors. According to a report by Emily Forlini of Fortune, Jones has worked in the technology field for over 30 years, including in the semiconductor industry.

If the board of directors decides to select a technical expert as the successor to Huang, Simmons believes that a potential internal candidate is Ian Buck. Buck joined NVIDIA in 2004 and currently serves as the Vice President of Ultra-Large Scale and High-Performance Computing, as well as a key architect for its AI business.

Regarding the main candidates for potential external successors to Huang, you can read my article here.

Wish you a happy weekend.

Sheryl Estrada

Sheryl.Estrada @ fortune.com

Leaderboard

Fortune 500 Power Moves

Andrew Murray has been appointed as the Chief Financial Officer of Albertsons (ranked 57th), effective from January 17th. Murray will replace Cody Perdue, who has served as the interim CFO since September 30th and will continue to hold the positions of Senior Vice President for Finance, Investor Relations, and Risk Management. Murray previously worked at Fonterra Co - operative. Group is the world's largest dairy exporter and has been serving as the group's CFO since 2024. He is also responsible for strategy, mergers and acquisitions, transformation, and IT. Before joining Fonterra, Murray held the position of CFO at Simplot Australia, led the global financial transformation of Toll Group, and has held several senior financial positions at Mondelez International.

Fortune 500 “Power Moves” weekly column tracks changes in the executive teams of Fortune 500 companies – you can view the latest issue.

More notable personnel changes this week:

Karen Burgess has been appointed as HubSpot ( NYSE : HUBS ) CFO, a customer relationship management software company, effective from February 11th. She will succeed Kate Bueker, who will retire and continue to serve as a consultant until December 2027. Burgess will join HubSpot on November 30th, initially serving as the Vice President of Finance, and then take over as CFO. She comes from Adobe and currently holds the position of Senior Vice President of the Creativity & Productivity business unit, as well as CFO. Since joining Adobe in 2002, Burgess has been assisting in driving its business model transformation.

Richard Dziadzio has been appointed as the CFO of AmeriLife Group. AmeriLife Group is a company that distributes life and health insurance, provides wealth management services, and offers retirement solutions. Dziadzio will take over from Jim Quinn, who has held the position of CFO since 2017; Jim Quinn will then assume the role of newly established President and Chief Transformation Officer. Recently, during the acquisition of Sterling Check by First Advantage, Dziadzio served as the interim CFO.

Adrian Wood has been appointed as CFO of BHP Group Limited, effective from February 17th. HBP will succeed Vandita Pant, who will leave his position after releasing the BHP semi-annual report on February 16th and will remain in office until March 29th. Wood currently serves as the Vice President of Australian Mining Projects. He joined BHP in 2015 and has previously held positions as Vice President of Finance for Australian Mining and Group Investor Relations Officer.

Jacqueline Maxwell has been appointed as the CFO of Prolink, a company headquartered in Cincinnati that provides labor solutions. The company stated that she will succeed Jennifer Prospero, who will take on the role of Chief Executive Officer. Maxwell has been working at Prolink since 2012 and most recently held the position of Vice President and Corporate Controller. Prior to that, she served as Controller at Mary L. Shiley and LLC. Prospero joined Prolink in March 2024 in a temporary CFO capacity and was appointed as CFO in January 2025.

Dev Ahuja has been appointed as QXO (by NYSE: QXO) CFO, effective from January. QXO is a distributor of construction products. Ahuja will succeed Ihsan Essaid, who will also take on the role of Vice Chairman. Ahuja has over 20 years of experience. He comes from the aluminum producer Novelis and has held the position of CFO there since 2016. Prior to that, he also served in various roles at Novartis' Alcon in North America, Alcon in Japan, and the company's operations in South Korea.

Mike Barna has been appointed as the CFO of Advantive. Advantive provides software for special manufacturing and distribution companies. Barna has over 20 years of experience in financial and operational leadership in the software and data business, and recently served as the CFO of Lone Wolf Technologies. He has also held leadership positions at CoreLogic, Information Services Group, and The Nielsen Company.

Adrian Bartella has been appointed as the CFO of Medical Solutions. Medical Solutions is a healthcare workforce solutions company. Bartella possesses over 20 years of financial leadership experience and has previously served as the CFO of Upstream Rehabilitation, The Fresh Market, and Hudson Group.

Big Deal

Going deeper

The following are four articles recommended for weekend reading by Fortune:

The Senate Banking Committee requires Jensen Huang and Howard Lutnick to testify next month regarding 'major national security concerns'; otherwise, they will face subpoenas – Eleanor Pringle

“Jensen Huang has left NVIDIA. Elon Musk said that it would be ‘a privilege’ to hire him’ – Bilin Lin”

"How Novig Became the Third-Largest Prediction Market Website Just Months After Launch" – Camila Grigera Na ón

"Millennials once viewed accounting as one of the most boring jobs in the United States – today it has become one of the hottest seasonal jobs, and also a backdoor for Generation Z to earn six-figure incomes" – Orianna Rosa Royle

Overheard

"I believe that, apart from AI, few companies are able to achieve the kind of growth we have seen in just two months."

--The co-founder of the sports-focused prediction market Novig, who is also CEO Jacob Fortinsky, stated in an interview with Fortune. Novig launched as a federally regulated prediction market in August. In the past 30 days, the trading volume on Novig at the regulated exchanges in the United States has reached $1.8 billion.