Nvidia’s board has approached Arm chief Rene Haas about taking over from Jensen Huang, the Financial Times reported on Friday. Haas is one of several names in the frame, and the board says no candidate is formally engaged yet. The news comes a day after Huang resigned after 33 years at the top.
Updated: 14 November 2026, 10:00 IST
Quick Read
- The Financial Times reported on Friday that Nvidia’s board has approached Arm CEO Rene Haas as a possible successor to Jensen Huang — one of several candidates, with no guarantee of an offer.
- Nvidia’s board said it is still picking a firm to run the search and has not formally engaged any candidate. “Any speculation regarding individual candidates, whether internal or external, is premature,” the board said.
- Elon Musk has backed a push by Nvidia staff to bring Huang back. Haas, 64, has led Arm since 2022 and spent seven years at Nvidia before that.
Who is Rene Haas
Haas, 64, is chief executive of Arm, the British chip designer backed by SoftBank. He has led Arm since 2022 and took it through its 2023 Nasdaq listing in New York.
He knows Nvidia from the inside: he joined in 2006, spent about seven years there running computing products, and left in 2013 to join Arm.
The FT said Haas keeps strong ties to Huang and some Nvidia directors — part of why his name has come up so fast.
Arm declined to comment, and Reuters said it could not independently verify the report.
Also read: Nvidia loses $500bn as Huang quits
What the board said
The board said it is still selecting a search firm to find the next chief executive and has not formally engaged any candidate: “Any speculation regarding individual candidates, whether internal or external, is premature.”
An approach is not an offer. Haas is one of several names being looked at, the FT said, citing people familiar with the matter, with no guarantee of an offer or an acceptance.
For now, Colette Kress runs the company: she became interim chief executive on Thursday, hours after Huang resigned, and keeps her CFO job too.
The push to bring Huang back
Some Nvidia staff want the old boss back: an internal post urging the board to weigh staff feeling drew more than 1,600 comments, tech site Wired reported, many calling for Huang’s return.
Elon Musk has backed that push, saying on X that a petition to bring Huang back was under way and he would sign it. Staff have also shared a letter calling on the board to think again, under the slogan “bring back boss”.
One claim doing the rounds needs care. A report said top Nvidia executives had threatened to quit and join SpaceX’s Terafab chip project. That claim rests on an internal memo that has not been verified, so this post does not state it as fact. It is an unverified report, not a confirmed threat.
Also read: Colette Kress: Nvidia’s new interim CEO
Who else could get the job
Tae Kim, author of “The Nvidia Way”, has backed Haas as his first choice. His second pick is Ian Buck, a senior Nvidia engineer credited with inventing CUDA, the software that made Nvidia’s chips the standard for AI work.
AMD chief Lisa Su has also been floated by analysts — speculation only, with no sourced report and nothing from AMD.
The board will look both inside and outside the company. Before Huang left, Kress and Buck were the leading internal names, Channel News Asia reported. The board has named no finalists and set no deadline.
Also read: Nvidia falls 8% as board weighs Huang exit
What it means for readers in India
Nvidia sells no phone or laptop in India, so this is not about a price you pay. Its chips sit at the centre of the AI boom, and Indian firms buy or rent them, while Indian investors hold the stock through US-market funds.
Reliance, Yotta and L&T have chip and AI deals tied to Nvidia hardware, as we reported on 10 November. Nothing in Friday’s report changes those deals — what changes is who runs the company that supplies the chips.
FAQ
Has Rene Haas been offered the Nvidia CEO job?
No. The FT reported the board has approached Haas, but the board says it has not formally engaged any candidate. He is one of several names, with no guarantee of an offer.
Who is running Nvidia now?
Colette Kress, the chief financial officer, is interim CEO. She took the role on Thursday 12 November, hours after Huang resigned.
Could Jensen Huang come back?
Some staff want him back, and Musk has backed a petition to reinstate him. But the board has started a search for a permanent chief executive, and Huang has agreed to testify before Congress before Thanksgiving. No return has been agreed.
Desk-original added context
Our own successor shortlist, with each name labelled by what is actually known:
| Name | Role now | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Rene Haas | CEO, Arm | Approached by the board, per the FT; one of several candidates; no offer |
| Ian Buck | Senior engineer, Nvidia | Backed by author Tae Kim as a top pick; credited with inventing CUDA |
| Colette Kress | Interim CEO and CFO, Nvidia | Holds the job now; was a leading internal candidate before the exit |
| Lisa Su | CEO, AMD | Floated by analysts only; unconfirmed speculation |
Our own timeline: Thu 12 Nov — Huang resigns, Kress becomes interim CEO, Harvey C. Jones becomes first chair; Fri 13 Nov — the FT reports the board has approached Haas, Musk backs the push to bring Huang back; Tue 17 Nov — Nvidia reports results; Wed 18 Nov — Kress holds a company meeting. Two days passed between the resignation and the first named successor report. One gap: no search firm has been picked yet.
Sources
- The Economic Times — Nvidia approaches Arm Holdings CEO Haas to take over Jensen Huang’s job, Elon Musk backs Huang’s reinstatement (14 Nov 2026, 200 verified; primary source)
- Business Standard — Nvidia approaches Arm CEO Rene Haas as employees seek Huang’s return (14 Nov 2026, 200 verified; Reuters via Business Standard — board denial, Wired post)
- The Korea Times — Nvidia approached Arm CEO Haas to succeed Huang, FT reports (14 Nov 2026, 200 verified; Reuters — Haas background, Nasdaq listing)
Sasanka Sekhar Pradhan is the founder of India Presents, an India-focused news site. He covers daily box-office trackers, India news, economy explainers, sports previews and festival guides — in simple English, so readers across India can follow fast-moving stories without jargon. His focus is what a story means for the reader: the number that matters, the source behind it, and what happens next. India Presents publishes daily, with day-trackers updated as new figures come in.
