Nvidia's Interim CEO Colette Kress Was Missing From Jensen Huang's List of Powerful Women in Tech

Colette Kress is now the interim CEO of Nvidia, the American chip maker whose hardware underpins the artificial intelligence industry. She was previously the company's chief financial officer. Tech magazine WIRED reports that her predecessor, Jensen Huang, did not name her in a recent email exchange about which women hold the most power in technology.

Where the question came from

Earlier this fall, WIRED published a feature on power for women in an industry traditionally dominated by men. It asked why Silicon Valley lacks a female counterpart to figures such as Elon Musk or Huang, and concluded that power can look different for women: significant financial capital, political influence, the ability to set cultural norms, or intellectual leadership in the field.

The authors found not one standout woman but many, including Lisa Su, Gwynne Shotwell and Laurene Powell Jobs. Kress was mentioned as Nvidia's CFO.

Huang's answer

During reporting, WIRED emailed Huang for his view. He replied that Meta's Dina Powell and Google's Ruth Porat came to mind, because he sees them when he is in Washington. After some prompting, he agreed that Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX, was impressive too.

WIRED points out that Huang left out the most senior woman executive at his own company. Kress joins him on nearly every quarterly earnings call and, in the magazine's assessment, knows Nvidia's finances better than almost anyone.

What comes next

WIRED argues that Kress's decisions as interim chief will affect the tech industry, geopolitics and the wider economy. The source does not say whether the appointment will become permanent.