Trump Floats Tim Cook for Nvidia CEO as Kress Sets November 18 Staff Meeting

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that "only one man" could replace Huang and named Cook, adding: "A Legend replaces a Legend!" Axios reported that it was unclear whether the president meant the suggestion seriously, and that he did not comment on the circumstances of Huang's departure, instead calling him "a Legend". The coverage gave no sign that Trump had approached Cook, and neither Nvidia nor Apple was reported to have responded.

The post brings the White House into a succession that matters well beyond one company. Nvidia supplies most of the chips used to train and run large AI models, and its sales to China are already under scrutiny in Washington. This week, two Democratic senators asked administration officials to preserve records on Nvidia's China exports. Whoever takes the job permanently will inherit those relationships with regulators as well as the company's customers.

Cook handed over the Apple chief executive role on September 1, 2026, after 15 years in the job, and John Ternus succeeded him, according to TechCrunch. As executive chairman, Cook handles Apple's dealings with policymakers around the world, including in China. Trump was not the first to suggest him. A day earlier, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of the Yale School of Management wrote in an op-ed for Time that Cook had "an unparalleled track record of succeeding a bigger-than-life founder", a reference to his taking over from Steve Jobs.

Nvidia's own messages to staff gave no hint of a preferred candidate. The Verge published the internal email in which Harvey Jones, who has become the company's first-ever board chair, told employees that Huang had resigned as chief executive and as a board member. Jones wrote that the board had asked Kress to serve as interim chief executive while it searched for a permanent successor, "looking at both internal and external candidates". He described Kress, who has been chief financial officer for more than 13 years, as "a key architect of NVIDIA's growth and capital strategy" and said the board had full confidence in her.

In her first email to staff as interim chief, Kress acknowledged the strain inside the company. "The Board, Estaff and I recognize that this has been an extraordinarily difficult period," she wrote, thanking employees for their resilience. She said leadership would say more about the company's future in the coming days and that Nvidia would hold a company meeting on November 18 at 9am Pacific time.

Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993. According to The Verge, he resigned after the board opened an investigation into extramarital affairs, including one with a direct report and one with a woman alleged to be a Chinese spy. Neither memo mentioned the investigation.

Kress takes over just before Nvidia reports its quarterly results next week. Investors on that call are likely to ask about the search for a permanent chief executive as well as demand for the company's chips.