Jensen Huang reportedly criticised Nvidia’s new CEO Colette Kress during an August meeting. Months before she succeeded him as Nvidia’s interim chief executive, Huang questioned her ability to help shape strategy as the company considered billions of dollars in financial guarantees for customers, a Wall Street Journal report claimed, citing people familiar with the discussions.Kress was a “reporting CFO,” not someone who could help him define a strategy or make decisions, Huang reportedly said at the meeting. He also described her as “a deer in the headlights,” interrupting her presentation. The meeting concerned Nvidia’s growing financial commitments to companies buying its chips, placing Kress at the centre of questions about how much risk the chipmaker should accept to support future sales.
What prompted Jensen Huang’s criticism of Colette Kress
Huang had summoned Kress and senior finance executives to examine Nvidia’s plans to back companies that could not afford its chips without financial support. The proposed guarantees would help cloud providers and data-centre developers borrow money, potentially turning them into long-term Nvidia customers. Some deals were led by Huang’s son-in-law, Nico Caprez, who had become a vice president in January.According to the report, Huang had begun questioning whether the dealmaking had gone too far. During the meeting, he said major cloud providers were exploring alternative chips while Nvidia faced substantial commitments to purchase chip wafers and memory. He described those supplies as an “avalanche.”
Colette Kress questioned the risks of customer financing
As the financing programme developed, Kress raised questions about which deals Nvidia should pursue, how guarantees should be valued and how investment returns should be calculated, according to a person familiar with the matter. People who worked with her said she also tried to rein in Caprez’s activities.One proposed arrangement involved Nvidia providing financial backing for an Ohio data-centre project that OpenAI was discussing leasing. The facility would house around $300 billion worth of Nvidia chips, according to the report.After concerns about the scale of Nvidia’s exposure, Kress reportedly reworked the arrangement and halved its initial financial commitment. The companies signed the smaller deal on August 17. Nvidia subsequently paused some financing deals as senior executives and its board increased scrutiny.
From finance chief to interim CEO
Despite her internal questions, Kress publicly defended Nvidia’s investments in the wider AI industry.“We recognise the scale of this support, and we know some will call this circular financing. We see it differently,” she said in late August. “The equity returns on our invested capital will be excellent.”Circular financing describes arrangements in which a company helps fund businesses that then purchase its products. Kress, who joined Nvidia as chief financial officer after earlier finance roles at Cisco and Microsoft, was named interim CEO following Huang’s resignation. Nvidia said it would consider internal and external candidates for a permanent appointment.In a message to employees, Kress praised Huang and said she would continue “building on the extraordinary foundation Jensen created over the last 33 years.”
