STOCKS | Nvidia’s New CEO Colette Kress, 58, Has a Long Finance Career

Nvidia’s new CEO, Colette Kress, 58, has served as the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer since September 2013. According to Sina Finance, citing Newsweek, Jay Aldert, an executive at an international services company, said in an interview Tuesday that Nvidia need not seek another leader in the founder’s mold. Aldert said the company should share authority and responsibility across a stronger management team and reduce its reliance on any single executive. Before joining Nvidia, Kress spent three years at Cisco, handling financial strategy, planning, reporting, and business development. She previously worked at Microsoft for 13 years, including four years as finance lead for its Server and Tools division, and spent eight years at Texas Instruments. She holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Southern Methodist University. Kress also oversees Nvidia’s financial disclosures to the market and communicates with Wall Street analysts about demand, margins, and investment plans. The source says this external-facing role would be particularly important amid an unexpected leadership change.