Nvidia's board has approached Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas as a possible replacement for Jensen Huang, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Friday, November 13, citing people familiar with the matter.
Huang stepped down on November 12 following revelations about extramarital affairs, including one involving a suspected Chinese spy. His exit has left Nvidia looking for a new leader after his nearly three-decade run at the chipmaker.
Haas is among several people being considered for the position, but there is no guarantee that Nvidia will offer him the job or that he will accept it, according to the FT report. Nvidia's finance chief, Colette Kress, is currently serving as interim CEO.
Rene Haas' past experience at Nvidia and Arm
Deep Dive
Why is Arm CEO Rene Haas being considered to replace Jensen Huang at Nvidia?
Has Nvidia offered Rene Haas the CEO job?
Who else is being considered to become Nvidia CEO?
Haas is not new to Nvidia. He spent seven years at the company, where he rose to become vice president and general manager of its computing products business. He left in 2013 to join Arm and became its CEO in 2022.
Also Read: Nvidia news highlights: CEO succession search begins; Huang asked to testify before US Senate
{{/usCountry}}Also Read: Nvidia news highlights: CEO succession search begins; Huang asked to testify before US Senate
{{/usCountry}}During his time leading Arm, Haas oversaw the company's listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2023. Arm designs processor architectures and licenses them to other companies that use them to develop their own chips. The company has traditionally focused on mobile phones and is now expanding into computers.
Who else is being considered for Nvidia CEO?
Haas is one of several names being discussed as Nvidia looks for Huang's replacement. The company's finance chief, Colette Kress, is viewed by analysts as a possible option because of her experience managing its finances.
Veteran Nvidia engineer Ian Buck is also being considered after leading the development of CUDA, the software platform used to power the company's AI chips.
Other names discussed by industry analysts include AMD CEO Lisa Su, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra, Marvell CEO Matt Murphy and Apple hardware chief Johny Srouji.
Also Read: Some Nvidia employees want Jensen Huang back as CEO, believe ‘everyone makes mistakes’: Rep
Nvidia faces leadership change amid China chip concerns
The next CEO could bring a different leadership style to Nvidia. Huang personally oversaw major decisions involving chip development, US-China trade issues and investments across the AI industry.
The leadership change also comes as Nvidia faces increased regulatory attention and growing support among US lawmakers for tighter restrictions on its chip exports to China.
Following the FT report, Arm's US-listed shares recovered some of their earlier losses but remained down more than 5%. Nvidia shares were also down over 3%, according to Reuters.