Newshot Colette Kress
Also written as：科莱特·克雷斯 / Colette Marie Kress / 克雷斯 / 科莱特 · 克雷斯
American business executive, executive vice president and CFO of NVIDIA since 2013; interim chief executive officer since 12 November 2026, after Jensen Huang's resignation.
Kress earned a BSc in finance from the University of Arizona and an MBA from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.
Career
She began in the finance department at Texas Instruments, later serving as CFO of Microsoft's Server and Tools Division and then of Cisco's Business Technology and Operations Finance section.
In September 2013, after a search that ran about two years, she joined NVIDIA as chief financial officer. At the time she was seen as unlikely to change the company dramatically — her background was finance at mature companies rather than startup improvisation. Over the following decade she built out the finance organisation and the company's capital-markets story, a period in which its valuation went from tens of billions to more than US$5 trillion.
On 12 November 2026, after co-founder Jensen Huang resigned amid scandal, the board named her interim CEO and began a search for a permanent successor. She has been a billionaire since July 2025 on the strength of her NVIDIA equity.
Personal life
Little is publicly documented about her personal life; she keeps a low profile and rarely gives interviews.
From Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0
Colette Marie Kress (born 1966 or 1967) is an American business executive. She has been the interim chief executive officer (CEO) of Nvidia since November 12, 2026, following the resignation of former Nvidia CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang amid a scandal. Kress had previously worked at Texas Instruments, before serving as chief financial officer (CFO) of Cisco's Business Technology and Operations Finance Section and CFO at Microsoft's Server and Tools Division. Kress became executive vice president and CFO of Nvidia in 2013. Kress has been a billionaire since July 2025, based on her equity in Nvidia.
Education
Kress earned a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in finance from the University of Arizona and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the Cox School of Business of Southern Methodist University.
Career
Before joining Nvidia, Kress first worked in the finance department of Texas Instruments, before becoming CFO of Microsoft's Server and Tools Division and later of Cisco's Business Technology and Operations Finance Section. Kress joined Nvidia as CFO after a two-year search in September 2013, where she was seen as unlikely to cause a significant change in the company's core business of selling graphics chips, but was seen as a potential support for the expansion to tablets and computers. At that point, Nvidia was the smallest company she had worked for. In 2018, during the Bank of America Global Tech Conference, Kress said that despite reduction in cryptocurrency mining demands for Nvidia GPUs, other industries like autonomous vehicles and gaming would drive demand. Kress has been seen as instrumental in Nvidia's rapid rise to prominence during the AI boom. As the company has rapidly grown, she has led the digitization effort of manual processes. She has frequently discussed the importance of AI and its growth. She has helped direct Nvidia's many investments in other companies, and spoke publicly about the discussions between OpenAI and Nvidia for investments. On November 12, 2026, Kress was announced as the new interim CEO of Nvidia after the resignation of Jensen Huang, following controversies around his extramarital affairs while CEO. Kress retained her position as CFO and Executive VP while serving as interim CEO.
Personal life
Kress is married to David Kress, a retired Microsoft business operations manager. The couple has two sons.
Wealth
Kress was first ranked as a billionaire in July 2025, based on her equity in Nvidia, making her one of the few CFOs to become billionaires.
Accolades
Kress was a 2024 winner of The New Era in Business from Chief, a women's networking organization. She was ranked as #49 on Fortune's Most Powerful Women list in 2026. She was #37 on Forbes's Most Powerful Women list in 2025 and #32 on Forbes's Richest Self-Made Women list in 2026. She was included in the MarketWatch 50 in 2023 as an AI Player.