Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) announced on Thursday, November 12, 2026 that Jensen Huang has resigned as president, chief executive officer and a member of the board, effective immediately. He co-founded the company 33 years ago. The news ended four days of reports about Huang that we tracked in our after-hours NVDA note on Wednesday.

Kress Takes Two Jobs, Jones Gets a New One

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From Nvidia's release:

  • Interim CEO: Colette Kress, CFO since September 2013. She keeps the CFO and executive vice president roles until a permanent successor is named.
  • CEO search: the board will consider internal and external candidates. No timeline was given.
  • New board chair: Harvey C. Jones, former CEO and executive chairman of Synopsys, becomes Nvidia's first-ever chair of the board.
  • The board said it expects "operations, customer commitments and product roadmap to continue without interruption."

    • TechCrunch reported that a regulatory filing shows the board accepted Huang's resignation on Wednesday. CNBC noted that Huang was not quoted in the release. AP and NBC News tied the resignation to reports of his relationship with a businesswoman alleged to be a Chinese agent and a separate reported relationship with an Nvidia executive who reported to him. NBC said it had not independently verified the second report.

    Nvidia is still reporting fiscal third-quarter results on November 17, per CNBC, with results around 1:20 p.m. PT and a call at 2 p.m. PT. That puts the first earnings call under an interim CEO, who is also the CFO, five days after the change.

    A 13% Opening Gap That Half-Filled

    From Cboe's delayed quote, against Wednesday's $173.73 close:

    | Point in the session | Price | Change | Open$150.98about -13.1% Low$148.80about -14.3% High$163.10about -6.1% About 10:02 a.m. ET$160.76about -7.5%

    About 210 million shares had traded by then. CNBC said the open put Nvidia below a $4 trillion market value and on pace for its worst day since January 2025. Shares had closed at a record $239.24 on October 6.

    Peers split. CNBC reported AMD up about 3% and Broadcom up more than 5%, while Intel, Marvell and Micron were each down more than 2%. GPU-dependent neoclouds fell harder: CoreWeave nearly 12%, IREN 8% and Nebius 17%, per the same live coverage.

    Volatility Went Up on a Resolved Headline

    On a normal earnings morning, implied volatility falls once the news is out. Here it rose. Cboe showed NVDA's IV30 near 62.8%, up about 7.4 points, from roughly 55.4% at Wednesday's close.

    The market did not treat the resignation as the end of the uncertainty. It still has to price an open CEO search, possible government scrutiny (Baird's Wednesday downgrade cited an upcoming congressional hearing, per CNBC), and the November 17 report.

    At-the-money $160 strikes from the same Cboe snapshot, using bid/ask midpoints:

    Expiration$160 call + $160 putShare of $160.76IV (approx.) Nov 13 (Friday)$4.63 + $3.73 = $8.35~5.2%~109% Nov 20 (covers Nov 17 earnings)$9.60 + $8.63 = $18.23~11.3%~94% | Dec 18 | $12.93 + $11.53 = $24.45 | ~15.2% | ~61% |

    For comparison, on Wednesday's close the Nov 20 at-the-money straddle priced about 9.8%. The market is now charging more for next week, even after a large move has already happened.

    Friday's Cheap Puts Became Expensive Overnight

    Wednesday's close left about 24,100 contracts of open interest in the Nov 13 $160 put, last traded at $0.26. With the stock near $160.76, that put was quoted around $3.70 to $3.75, even while still slightly out of the money. Almost all of that is time value priced at roughly 109% IV.

    Thursday's early trading was concentrated in the Friday expiration:

  • Nov 13 $160 calls: about 89,100 contracts traded, against open interest of about 2,000.
  • Nov 13 $165 calls: about 84,200 traded, against open interest of about 3,000.
  • Nov 13 $150 puts: about 78,900 traded, against open interest of about 17,300.

    • Volume many times larger than open interest suggests much of it is new positioning or same-day trading. Volume alone doesn't show who bought and who sold.

    Educational Points for a Leadership Shock Before Earnings

    These are general observations, not recommendations:

  • Options are now priced off a lower stock and a higher IV. Anyone buying puts after the gap pays for both the drop already in the price and the extra volatility. If the stock steadies, that premium can fall even without a rally.
  • The Nov 20 expiration carries two events. It holds the remaining CEO-search uncertainty and the Nov 17 earnings report. Short premium through that date is exposed to both, plus any new headlines.
  • Intraday swings are wide. The stock covered more than $14 between its low and high in the first half hour. Stops and limit orders on single options can fill far from the expected price in markets like this.
  • Defined-risk structures such as vertical spreads cap the maximum loss and depend less on where IV settles than single long or short options.
  • Weekly IV near 109% decays fast. With one trading day left, Friday's contracts lose time value quickly if the stock stops moving.

    • Our implied volatility explainer covers how event premium builds and fades. The OCC options disclosure document explains the risks of standardized options.

    Sources

  • NVIDIA Newsroom: NVIDIA Announces CEO Transition
  • CNBC: Nvidia live updates, CEO Jensen Huang resigns, Colette Kress named interim chief
  • NBC News: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns after reports of affair and extramarital relationships
  • TechCrunch: Nvidia's Jensen Huang resigns, chipmaker names CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO
  • AP: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigns
  • Cboe: NVDA delayed quotes and options

    • *By the OptionsPilot Editorial Team. Published November 12, 2026, 7:19 AM PT. This article is for education only and is not investment advice. Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors.*