Jensen Huang is out at Nvidia — who is Colette Kress, his interim replacement?

Nvidia's board of directors announced Thursday morning that co-founder Jensen Huang has resigned as president, CEO, and board member, effective immediately. The exit removes the executive who has been synonymous with the company since its founding, ending a 33-year tenure as chief executive at the helm of a chipmaker worth roughly $3.8 trillion.

Kress, 59 and based in California, has been at Nvidia since September 2013. Her background includes three years as senior vice president and CFO of Cisco's Business Technology Operations Finance organization and 13 years at Microsoft, where she spent four years as CFO of the Server and Tools division. She holds a finance degree from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Southern Methodist University. Forbes estimates her net worth at about $1.2 billion.

Though her social media footprint is slim — her LinkedIn activity has mostly consisted of retirement well-wishes for former colleagues — Kress has been a fixture on Nvidia's earnings calls as CFO, making her familiar to the analysts who cover the company. A Forbes profile notes she partly joined Nvidia after her two sons endorsed the company for its video-game ties, the business Nvidia was best known for at the time.

In her first statement as interim leader, Kress pledged continuity: "We will continue advancing the work that has made NVIDIA a leader in accelerated computing and AI, and execute on the opportunities ahead," she said, adding that focus remains on customers, partners, developers, and shareholders. She framed the company's strength as coming from its people and committed to building on the foundation Huang laid over three decades.

Nvidia reports quarterly earnings next Tuesday, which will offer the first public read on Kress's direction. Open questions include whether the board's search favors an internal candidate, how customers and partners react to the leadership rupture at the supplier underpinning the AI buildout, and whether the circumstances of Huang's exit carry further governance or regulatory fallout for the company.