Nvidia Board Says It Has Not Chosen a Search Firm or Formally Engaged CEO Candidates

"We are in the process of selecting a search firm for the Nvidia CEO role," the board said in a statement to CNBC. "We have not formally engaged any potential candidates." The board said that talk about specific candidates, whether from inside or outside the company, was premature. Bloomberg also reported the statement.

The board's comments followed a Financial Times report on Friday that it had approached Arm chief executive Rene Haas about the job. CNBC said it had not confirmed that report. Haas worked at Nvidia for seven years, including as a vice president over its computing products business, before joining SoftBank-backed Arm in 2013. The board's wording rules out formal talks with candidates but does not say whether informal contacts have taken place.

Huang stepped down as chief executive on Thursday, November 12, after reports of extramarital affairs. One of them was reportedly with a woman suspected of spying for China. Chief financial officer Colette Kress is interim chief executive. Nvidia has said it will consider both internal and external candidates for the permanent role. According to CNBC, which cited a person familiar with the matter, Kress held her first meeting as interim chief with senior executives at the company's Santa Clara headquarters on Thursday afternoon.

On Tuesday, Nvidia retained the law firm Wachtell Lipton to investigate allegations that Huang had been the target of a foreign intelligence effort. Three House committees have asked Huang to attend briefings, and the Senate Banking Committee has asked him and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify about how Nvidia's most advanced AI chips reportedly reached China.

Nvidia shares fell more than 2% on Friday, which took the company's market value below $4 trillion. The company reports quarterly results on November 17. That will be its first earnings call without Huang and its first chance to say more about the succession process.