Nvidia’s board has contacted Arm Holdings chief executive Rene Haas as a possible permanent successor to Jensen Huang, people familiar with the matter have indicated. Haas is one of several internal and external candidates under consideration after Huang stepped down on November 12 as president, chief executive and director, effective immediately.

Chief financial officer Colette Kress has assumed the role of interim CEO. Longtime director Harvey Jones has taken over as board chair. Nvidia has stated it is still in the process of selecting an executive search firm and has not formally engaged any individual candidates. The company has described speculation about specific names as premature.

Haas’s Path from Nvidia to Arm Leadership

Haas, 64, spent roughly seven years at Nvidia after joining in 2006. He served as vice president and general manager of the computing products business before departing more than a decade ago. He moved to Arm in 2013, later heading global sales and marketing and the IP Products Group. He became Arm’s chief executive and a director in February 2022.

Under his leadership Arm completed its Nasdaq listing in September 2023 at an initial valuation of about $54.5 billion. Arm licenses processor architectures and designs rather than manufacturing chips, generating revenue from fees and royalties paid by companies that incorporate its technology. In the quarter ended September 30, Arm reported $1.44 billion in revenue, a 27 percent increase from the prior year, with royalties from data-center chips doubling.

Haas also sits on the board of SoftBank, Arm’s majority owner, and has served since April as chief executive of SoftBank Group International. Any move to Nvidia would require addressing those overlapping roles, given the growing commercial links between the two companies in data-center hardware.

Employee Reaction and Broader Succession Context

Huang’s resignation followed reports of extramarital relationships, one involving a business executive whom U.S. officials have suspected of Chinese intelligence connections. Nvidia has said it has no reason to believe company secrets were compromised during his 33-year tenure as co-founder and chief executive.

Inside Nvidia an internal suggestion-box discussion has drawn more than 1,600 comments, many expressing support for Huang’s return. One anonymous employee wrote, “If you believe in the mission, bring back THE boss.” Other staff members have called for greater transparency about the circumstances of the departure. The volume of comments demonstrates residual internal support but does not indicate that the board has reopened talks on reinstatement.

Analysts have also mentioned other possible candidates, including Nvidia data-center executive Ian Buck and Advanced Micro Devices chief executive Lisa Su. Those names remain unconfirmed and do not represent formal offers or appointments.

Market Response and Ongoing Challenges

On the day the approach to Haas became public, Arm’s U.S.-listed shares declined more than 5 percent while Nvidia shares fell more than 3 percent. Arm later recovered a portion of those losses.

The next permanent chief executive will inherit Nvidia’s leading position in artificial-intelligence accelerators along with complex relationships with customers and governments. U.S. lawmakers continue to press for tighter restrictions on the company’s chip exports to China, an area Huang personally managed. Nvidia is scheduled to report quarterly results on November 17 under Kress’s interim leadership while the search for a permanent successor continues.