The 2018 case of former Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, who was forced to resign for violating the company’s internal policy prohibiting romantic relationships between executives and employees, is highly similar in terms of compliance to the governance crisis NVIDIA currently faces. However, the two cases differ fundamentally in the concentration of power and the severity of their market impact.
I. Stock Price and Operational Impact After Intel’s Former CEO Stepped Down in 2018
On June 21, 2018, Intel announced that it had discovered that Krzanich had previously had a consensual office romance with an employee. Krzanich immediately resigned and left the board, and then-CFO Bob Swan became interim CEO.
* Short-term stock price reaction (a modest decline of about 2.4%):
* On the first trading day after the news was announced, Intel shares fell only about 2.4% (from $54.38 to around $52.46).
* Main reason for the limited decline: In the same press release announcing the resignation, the board also raised its expectations for the second-quarter 2018 financial results (stating that revenue and EPS would exceed previous guidance and reach record highs). It also immediately appointed a CFO with extensive experience managing the finances of large corporations as interim CEO, effectively offsetting panic over the leadership shake-up.
* Medium- and long-term operational and strategic impact (governance paralysis and falling behind in process technology):
* A seven-month leadership vacuum: Intel did not officially appoint interim CEO Bob Swan to the permanent role until January 2019. During the transition, which lasted more than six months, the company lacked a top decision-maker with a technical background, and major capital expenditures and technology transitions became more conservative.
* Missed a critical turning point: Serious delays in the 10-nanometer process had already emerged during Krzanich's tenure. His successor, a CEO with a financial background, emphasized short-term financial discipline and stock buybacks, but failed to decisively resolve wafer manufacturing bottlenecks. Ultimately, in the following years, Intel was overtaken by TSMC and lost significant market share to AMD.
* Implications for NVIDIA: Krzanich was merely a “professional manager,” and Intel was facing process technology bottlenecks at the time, so the market actually welcomed his departure as an opportunity for “change and reform.” By contrast, Jensen Huang is the company's founder and its very soul, and he has adopted an extremely flat management structure (as many as about 60 senior executives report directly to him, with no COO). If he were to leave, the “key-person risk” and valuation discount facing NVIDIA would be far greater than Intel's at the time.
II. Potential Internal Successors at NVIDIA
As Jensen Huang has long had no formal succession plan in place (he has publicly said that he does not believe in formal succession plans), reports from Bloomberg and other foreign media indicate that the board is considering a two-track transition plan: appoint an interim CEO while conducting an external search for a permanent successor. The leading potential internal candidates are as follows:
| Candidate | Current Role and Key Credentials | Succession Strengths | Potential Weaknesses and Market Concerns | Assessment of Potential Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colette Kress
(Colette Kress) | Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Joined in 2013; previously held finance leadership roles at Cisco and Microsoft. | Highly trusted by Wall Street and institutional investors; has co-hosted earnings calls with Jensen Huang for years and is deeply familiar with the company's overall finances and business strategy. | No background in engineering or chip technology, making it difficult to lead GPU architecture development or engage deeply with engineering teams. | Top choice for “interim CEO”
Best matches the Intel scenario in which the CFO served as interim CEO to steady the company. |
| Ian Buck
(Ian Buck) | Vice President of Hyperscale and High-Performance Computing
Joined in 2004; a key inventor of the CUDA computing architecture. | The highest technical standing, regarded as “the person who best understands NVIDIA's moat”; directly oversees core data center and cloud service provider (CSP) businesses. Has the highest odds in prediction markets (Polymarket/Kalshi). | His past responsibilities have focused mainly on technology and product lines; he lacks experience in company-wide finance, legal affairs, and international geopolitical negotiations. | Leading technical candidate for “permanent CEO” |
| Debora Shoquist | Executive Vice President of Operations
Joined in 2007; previously held executive roles at JDS Uniphase and HP. | Oversees the global supply chain, foundry procurement (working with partners such as TSMC), and manufacturing operations; can ensure uninterrupted shipments of Blackwell and Rubin chips. | Less visible in public and lacks experience in capital markets communications and strategic leadership of the AI software ecosystem. | Key behind-the-scenes stabilizer
A key figure in ensuring stable supply chain capacity allocation and delivery. |
| Bryan Catanzaro | Vice President of Applied Deep Learning Research
Previously worked at Baidu and led several foundational generative AI algorithms. | Highly respected in AI academia and developer communities; deeply understands the challenges of training large models and future hardware-software co-design trends. | Focused on forward-looking research; relatively limited experience managing large organizations and commercial operations. | Next-generation technology leader
Well suited to join a senior decision-making committee and advise on technology strategy. |
| Bill Dally | Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President of Research
Former chair of Stanford University's Department of Electrical Engineering; joined in 2009. | A leading authority on chip architecture and high-speed interconnects (NVLink), with undisputed academic and technical authority among the company's engineering community. | Older (65) and has long focused on the advanced research division; has never directly managed a large commercial sales organization. | Technical thought leader
Better suited to serve as chair of a technical committee during the transition and reassure employees. |
(Note: Jay Puri, former Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations, was a senior commercial leader with the closest relationships with major customers, but he officially retired in July 2026. His role was taken over in August of this year by former Microsoft executive Nick Parker. Since Parker has been in the role for less than three months, he is unlikely to take over as CEO in the short term.)
III. The Board's Most Likely Transition Scenario
If the board ultimately decides to remove Jensen Huang as CEO, the market generally expects it will not appoint a single permanent successor immediately, but will instead launch a “three-pronged” transition structure:
* Appoint CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO to reassure Wall Street and provide stability around financial guidance.
* Have Ian Buck and Debora Shoquist oversee product technology and supply chain operations, respectively, ensuring that order schedules with cloud giants (Microsoft, Meta, Google, etc.) and TSMC remain unaffected.
* At the same time, launch an external executive search, while also considering top external executives with extensive experience in large-scale semiconductor and supply chain management (such as former Apple CEO Tim Cook, Arm CEO Rene Haas, and other names mentioned by the market).