Jensen Huang reportedly belittled Colette Kress before she became Nvidia interim CEO
The former Nvidia CEO questioned the ability of the new interim chief executive to shape company strategy during an August meeting.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reportedly criticised Colette Kress during an August meeting, months before she succeeded him as the company's interim chief executive, according to a Wall Street Journal report cited by the Times of India.
During the meeting, Huang allegedly interrupted Kress's presentation and described her as "a deer in the headlights." He reportedly told senior finance executives that Kress was a "reporting CFO" rather than someone who could help define strategy or make decisions.
The discussions concerned Nvidia's plans to provide billions of dollars in financial guarantees to companies, such as cloud providers and data-centre developers, to help them purchase chips. Huang reportedly questioned if the dealmaking had gone too far, noting that major cloud providers were exploring alternative chips while Nvidia faced an "avalanche" of commitments to purchase chip wafers and memory.
Kress, who joined Nvidia in September 2013, had previously raised questions regarding which deals to pursue and how to value guarantees. She also reportedly tried to rein in the activities of Nico Caprez, a vice president and son-in-law of Huang, who led some of the deals.
One proposed arrangement involved financial backing for an Ohio data-centre project being discussed by OpenAI, which would house approximately $300 billion worth of Nvidia chips. Kress reportedly reworked that arrangement to halve the initial financial commitment, and the companies signed a smaller deal on August 17.
Following Huang's resignation on Thursday, the Nvidia board named Kress interim CEO while searching for a permanent successor. Kress said she is committed to building on the foundation created by Huang over his 33-year tenure and will address employees on November 18.