Nvidia has appointed long-serving finance chief Colette Kress as interim chief executive following Jensen Huang’s dramatic resignation, handing the reins of the $4 trillion chip giant to a woman who has spent more than a decade behind the scenes of the AI boom.

Kress, who joined Nvidia in 2013, takes over after Huang’s 33-year reign ended following revelations of two extramarital affairs, including one involving a woman suspected of spying for China.

Her appointment comes as Nvidia shares plunged as much as 13 per cent as markets opened, with investors questioning whether the chipmaker can maintain its dominance without its talismanic founder.

Colette Kress enters interim role

The veteran executive has served as Nvidia’s chief financial officer for 13 years, overseeing its transformation from a gaming chipmaker into the company powering the global AI boom.

Before Nvidia, she held senior finance roles at Microsoft, Cisco and Texas Instruments, building more than three decades of experience in the technology industry.

Unlike Huang, whose leather jackets and globe-trotting appearances made him the face of artificial intelligence, Kress has largely operated behind the scenes, although she is a familiar presence on Wall Street earnings calls.

According to the Financial Times, Kress and her family held more than $700m in Nvidia shares, while she received $14.3m in remuneration last year.

Ben Barringer, head of tech research at Quilter Cheviot, said she was the obvious internal candidate and would now have an opportunity to prove herself.

“She certainly knows the company inside out and has helped develop what is a hugely successful strategy”, he said.

Nvidia’s newly appointed chair Harvey Jones said the board had “full confidence” in Kress, pledging that its operations and product roadmap would continue uninterrupted.