Nvidia’s board has reportedly approached Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas as it searches for a successor to Jensen Huang following his resignation on Thursday. The Financial Times reported the development on Friday as some Nvidia employees called for Huang’s reinstatement. Meanwhile, the chipmaker’s board denied formally engaging with any potential candidates.
Huang stepped down following revelations about extramarital affairs, including one involving a suspected Chinese spy. His departure created uncertainty across the artificial intelligence industry and placed Nvidia’s leadership under scrutiny. Finance chief Colette Kress currently serves as interim CEO.
According to the Financial Times, Haas ranks among several executives Nvidia’s board is considering for the position. Nevertheless, the report offered no assurance that Nvidia would extend an offer or that Haas would accept one.
Haas previously spent seven years at Nvidia, where he rose to vice president and general manager of its computing products division. He subsequently joined Arm in 2013 and became its chief executive in 2022.
Under his leadership, Arm completed its Nasdaq listing in 2023. The British chipmaker develops processor architectures and licenses its technology to companies that design semiconductors. Its business historically focused on mobile phones, although it has expanded into computers.
Shay Boloor, chief market strategist at Futurum Equities, cited Haas’ familiarity with Nvidia and his experience running a publicly traded semiconductor company. Boloor also pointed to his knowledge of Nvidia’s corporate culture.
For its part, Nvidia’s board said it was selecting a recruitment firm to oversee the CEO search. It described discussions about specific internal or external candidates as premature.
While Nvidia explores its leadership options, some employees have expressed support for Huang’s return. Wired reported that a longtime engineer had asked the board to consider employee sentiment before taking action against the former executive.
The internal post appeared before Huang announced his resignation. It subsequently attracted more than 1,600 comments, with several employees asking the board to find a way to reinstate him. Nvidia employs approximately 42,000 people worldwide.
Separately, billionaire Elon Musk closed on X that a petition seeking Huang’s reinstatement was underway. Musk also expressed his intention to sign it. Whether his comments referred to the internal employee initiative remained unclear.
Nvidia declined to address the report about employee discussions or Musk’s social media post. Arm also declined to comment on the reported approach involving Haas. Independent verification of the reports remained outstanding.
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Huang spent three decades leading Nvidia and personally overseeing several areas of its operations. These included engineering development plans, negotiations concerning semiconductor exports to China and substantial investments throughout the artificial intelligence sector.
Some analysts expect his successor to adopt a different management approach. Their expectations include a potential transition toward a corporate leadership structure with less dependence on a single executive.
The leadership search also comes amid increased regulatory scrutiny of Nvidia’s operations. At the same time, more U.S. lawmakers support tighter restrictions on the company’s semiconductor exports to China.
Besides Haas, analysts have identified potential candidates within Nvidia. Kress brings experience overseeing the company’s finances, while veteran engineer Ian Buck has an extensive technical background. Buck led the development of CUDA, the software platform behind Nvidia’s AI chips.
Meanwhile, Nvidia stock closed approximately 2% lower on Friday. The decline brought the chipmaker’s total market capitalization losses for the week to about USD 573 billion. Arm’s U.S.-listed shares also ended the trading session approximately 5% lower.
Nvidia continues its search for Jensen Huang’s successor as reports identify Arm CEO Rene Haas among potential candidates. Meanwhile, employees have called for Huang’s reinstatement, and Colette Kress remains interim CEO. The leadership uncertainty coincides with regulatory pressure and weekly market capitalization losses of approximately USD 573 billion.