Colette Kress, Nvidia's longtime chief financial officer, earned a reputation inside the chipmaker as one of the few executives willing to challenge Jensen Huang's ambitious and often high-risk investment decisions.

Now, as the company faces a leadership transition following Huang's departure, her record of financial scrutiny and more cautious approach to AI financing has drawn renewed attention to the executive who helped oversee Nvidia's transformation into a global technology powerhouse.

The 59-year-old finance chief now faces the task of steering the chipmaker through its first leadership transition without Huang, who resigned from the company he co-founded and led for more than three decades. Nvidia's board has begun searching for a permanent successor, while Kress will retain her position as chief financial officer during the interim period. 

Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Kress and her finance team clashed with Huang and Nvidia's sales department over large financing commitments involving OpenAI and AI infrastructure companies such as Lambda. Critics on Wall Street have questioned whether such arrangements contribute to a circular AI economy in which companies finance customers who then purchase their products.

A proposed $250 billion plan to support an OpenAI data center project in Ohio was eventually reduced to $120 billion.

"I think it's unlikely anyone but Jensen is going to invest in his own customers as aggressively," a venture capital investor told Reuters.

Read more: Senate summons Jensen Huang to testify over alleged Chinese spy ties

Kress brings a more cautious approach to Nvidia

People familiar with Kress describe her as a pragmatist whose management style contrasts with Huang's often confrontational approach. She joined Nvidia in 2013 after holding finance positions at Texas Instruments, Microsoft, and Cisco.

"Colette is a pragmatist," one source familiar with the matter told Reuters, adding that she could help stabilize markets while the company searches for a permanent CEO.

Kress has also participated in recent calls with customers and suppliers to reassure them as the leadership crisis unfolded.

However, questions remain over whether a finance executive can preserve the technological risk-taking that helped transform Nvidia into a leading supplier of AI chips.

"Putting (Kress) in the interim role makes sense to keep the markets calm, but I don't think she is the long-term visionary that Nvidia needs to continue its current trajectory," said Anshel Sag, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy.

Nvidia shares fell as much as 14% on Thursday following Huang's departure announcement before recovering to close down 4.3%.

Permanent succession and scrutiny over Nvidia's business

Kress's interim appointment does not guarantee she will retain the position permanently. Potential candidates mentioned by investors and analysts include Nvidia executive Ian Buck, AMD CEO Lisa Su, and Arm CEO Rene Haas.

Her appointment also comes as questions emerge over how much she knew about Huang's reported relationships and the company's chip sales involving Chinese military-linked institutions and Southeast Asian intermediaries. China has denied the allegations that a woman linked to the scandal was involved in espionage. Reuters said it could not reach Alice Huang for comment.

A source told Reuters that Kress knew about Huang's relationship with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia's vice president of healthcare, who reported to him. Nvidia and Powell did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Analyst Sunny Cheung of the Jamestown Foundation said Kress could face questions from US lawmakers over Nvidia's oversight of chip sales involving entities linked to China's military.

Kress joined Nvidia in September 2013 and has served as its CFO since then. Her tenure has coincided with the company's transformation into a central supplier of AI computing infrastructure. She became a billionaire in 2025 through her Nvidia equity holdings, according to media reports.

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