Colette Kress Net Worth 2026: Nvidia's Interim CEO and Her $830 Million Stake

That makes Kress, 59, the first person other than Huang to run Nvidia since he cofounded it in 1993. Unlike most people on the Forbes lists, she got rich on stock earned as an employee, not as a founder.

I built this page from the primary filings: Nvidia's Nov. 12 Form 8-K, the May 12, 2026 proxy statement, and her Sept. 18, 2026 Form 4. Where a figure comes from a news report or an estimate, I say so.

Colette Kress at a glance

Is Colette Kress the CEO of Nvidia now?

Yes, on an interim basis. In a Form 8-K filed on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, Nvidia said Jensen Huang "resigned as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board, effective immediately," and that Kress "has agreed to serve as Interim Chief Executive Officer." She keeps her jobs as executive vice president and CFO "until a permanent successor has been named."

The same filing made longtime director Harvey C. Jones, a former CEO and executive chairman of Synopsys who joined Nvidia's board in 1993, the company's first-ever chair of the board. The board says it will consider internal and external candidates for the permanent job.

"The Board has full confidence in Colette and the leadership team," Jones said in the release. Kress's own line: "Our focus remains on serving our customers, partners, developers and shareholders."

Nvidia did not give a reason for Huang's departure. It followed a week of reports about his personal relationships, including one with a businesswoman tied to an Nvidia customer whom U.S. officials reportedly suspect of working for Chinese intelligence. Huang apologized on Nov. 8 for being "unfaithful to my wife," CNBC reported, and the board opened an independent investigation. Yahoo Finance reported the board said it had no reason to believe trade secrets or national security were compromised.

How long will Kress be interim CEO?

Nvidia set no end date. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told CNBC he expects her to hold the role for about a year, with an outside hire more likely for the long term. Names analysts floated on Nov. 12 included Kress herself, Ian Buck (head of hyperscale), Bryan Catanzaro (applied deep learning), CTO Michael Kagan and chief scientist Bill Dally. President Trump posted that Apple's Tim Cook should get the job. None of them has been named a candidate by Nvidia.

Her first big test comes fast: Nvidia reports fiscal third-quarter results on Nov. 17, 2026, against her own August guidance of $108 billion in revenue, plus or minus 2%.

Colette Kress net worth: how the number is built

Kress did not found Nvidia, so she owns far less of it than Huang does. Her fortune comes from 13 years of stock grants that she mostly held while Nvidia's value rose from under $10 billion when she joined (per IBTimes) to above $5 trillion in 2025.

Her Nvidia shares, account by account

Her Form 4 filed Sept. 18, 2026 is the latest snapshot of everything she holds. I added up every line:

Most of the stake (about 84%) sits outside her own name. A grantor retained annuity trust, or GRAT, is a common estate planning tool for executives with fast-rising stock: the gains above a set rate pass to heirs largely free of gift tax. The proxy statement, dated as of March 23, 2026, listed the same trust structure and 4,443,523 shares in total; the count rose by mid-September as restricted stock units vested.

These counts do not include unvested awards. Kress receives new restricted stock units and performance units every March; the Globe and Mail notes a March 2026 grant that vests over four years.

What a $1 move in Nvidia does to her

Each $1 change in Nvidia's share price moves her stake by about $4.8 million. That is why her paper wealth swings so much:

Forbes' $1.2 billion estimate, which used stock prices from June 1, 2026, also counts cash and other assets from years of share sales, which no filing totals up. With the stock about 27% below its October peak, her net worth today is likely lower than Forbes' June figure, but how much lower depends on cash she kept after taxes, which is not public.

Her stock sales

Kress sells on a schedule. Her sales run through Rule 10b5-1 trading plans, which are set up months in advance so insiders cannot time trades on news. The most recent plan was adopted on June 16, 2026; an earlier one on March 4, 2025.

She also had 40,747 shares withheld on Sept. 16, 2026 to cover taxes on vesting stock units, at $212.17 a share. No Form 4 for her was filed between Sept. 18 and Nov. 12, 2026 that I could find, so she did not sell during the October run-up or the November slide.

Colette Kress salary and total pay

Nvidia pays its executives mostly in stock. Kress's cash salary has barely moved in years; her stock awards drive the totals. These are the Summary Compensation Table figures from Nvidia's proxy statements (fiscal years end in late January):

Fiscal 2024 to 2026 come straight from the 2026 proxy; fiscal 2022 and 2023 are earlier proxy figures as compiled by Discounting Cash Flows.

Her fiscal 2026 target pay, as the board set it, was $16.0 million: $900,000 salary, $300,000 target variable cash, and $14.8 million in equity, up $1.0 million (7%) from fiscal 2025. Nvidia beat its stretch revenue goal, so the cash plan paid 200%, or $600,000. The equity came as 57,106 restricted stock units, 28,550 single-year performance units and 28,550 multi-year performance units at target. Her fiscal 2024 multi-year units vested at 200% of target, 49,560 shares, on March 18, 2026.

"Other" is mostly a 401(k) match ($11,500 in fiscal 2026) and life insurance premiums ($4,902).

For comparison, Huang's fiscal 2026 target pay was $35.5 million.

Will she get paid more as interim CEO?

Nvidia's 8-K announcing her appointment mentions no change to her salary or awards, and Nvidia executives have no individual employment, severance or change-in-control agreements, per the Globe and Mail's reading of the filings. If the board grants her extra pay for the interim role, it would have to disclose it in a later filing.

Colette Kress career timeline

1. Late 1980s to 1997

   About eight years in finance roles at Texas Instruments after a finance degree from the University of Arizona and an MBA from SMU

   Source: The Globe and Mail; Fortune

2. 1997

   Joins Microsoft

   Source: The Globe and Mail

3. 2006

   Becomes CFO of Microsoft's Server and Tools division, a role she holds for four years

   Source: The Globe and Mail; Fortune

4. 2010

   Joins Cisco as SVP and CFO of Business Technology and Operations Finance

   Source: The Globe and Mail

5. Sept. 2013

   Becomes Nvidia EVP and CFO

   Nvidia worth under $10 billionSource: Nvidia 8-K; IBTimes

6. Fiscal 2024

   Nvidia revenue more than doubles on AI demand

   $60.9 billion revenueSource: Fortune

7. Oct. 2024

   No. 16 on Fortune's Most Powerful Women list

   Source: Fortune

8. Fiscal 2025

   Pay peaks with a $19.8 million stock award

   $21.4 million total paySource: 2026 proxy

9. 2025

   Nvidia becomes the first company worth $5 trillion; Kress No. 44 on Fortune's 2025 list

   Source: Forbes; Fortune

10. Feb. 2026

    Reports fiscal 2026 results

    $215.9 billion revenue, up 65%Source: Nvidia release

11. June 2026

    Debuts on Forbes' America's Richest Self-Made Women list

    $1.2 billion net worthSource: Forbes

12. Aug. 2026

    Guides fiscal Q3 to $108 billion after a $96.2 billion Q2

    Source: Nvidia release

13. Nov. 12, 2026

    Named interim CEO after Huang resigns; stays CFO

    Stake worth about $830 million at prior closeSource: Nvidia 8-K; Form 4

Who is Colette Kress?

Colette M. Kress is a career finance executive who spent nearly 25 years at Texas Instruments, Microsoft and Cisco before Nvidia. She holds a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Arizona and an MBA from Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business.

At Microsoft, where she spent 13 years, she ran finance for the Server and Tools division, the business that became Microsoft's cloud and enterprise software arm. At Cisco she was senior vice president and CFO of its Business Technology and Operations Finance organization.

Why she joined Nvidia

When Huang hired her in 2013, Nvidia was mostly known for gaming graphics cards. In a 2024 Fortune interview, cited by the Globe and Mail, she described Nvidia as the smallest company she had ever worked for. Forbes and IBTimes report that her two sons, then young gamers who knew Nvidia's chips, endorsed the move; she has said Huang's whiteboard pitch of where the company was going sold her on it.

What she does at Nvidia

As CFO she runs Nvidia's finance organization, and she is the voice on Nvidia's quarterly earnings calls next to Huang. Analysts know her well because she gives the guidance. "AI is no longer a nice-to-have. AI is now a necessity for enhancing productivity across all industries and roles," she told investors on the May 20, 2026 earnings call, per Fortune.

Under her, Nvidia's annual revenue went from the low single-digit billions to $215.9 billion in fiscal 2026, and it returned about $26 billion to shareholders in fiscal Q2 2027 alone, with $99 billion left on its buyback authorization. In August 2026 she told investors Nvidia expected revenue to grow about 70% in fiscal 2028, while calling that outlook supply-constrained.

Recognition

How Kress compares with other Nvidia leaders

Kress is the rare billionaire who never founded or bought a company. Forbes gives her a self-made score of 6 out of 10, the band it uses for hired executives who built a fortune.

Frequently asked questions

What is Colette Kress's net worth?

Forbes estimated $1.2 billion as of June 3, 2026. Her Nvidia shares alone were worth about $830 million at the Nov. 11, 2026 close and about $764 million at roughly $160 a share during trading on Nov. 12, 2026.

Is Colette Kress a billionaire?

Forbes counted her as one in June 2026. At Nvidia's November prices her stock alone is below $1 billion, so whether she is still a billionaire depends on her cash and other assets, which are not public.

How many Nvidia shares does Colette Kress own?

4,775,733 shares after her Sept. 17, 2026 sales: 765,103 directly and the rest through trusts, an LLC and family members, per her Form 4.

How much does Colette Kress make?

Her fiscal 2026 total pay was $14,340,850, including an $898,577 salary and $12.8 million in stock awards. Her best year was fiscal 2025, at $21.4 million.

How old is Colette Kress?

59, according to Forbes in 2026.

Who is Colette Kress's husband?

Nvidia's proxy does not name him. It says he is trustee of one of her grantor retained annuity trusts and co-trustee of two others. The couple has two sons, according to Forbes.

Where does Colette Kress live?

Saratoga, California, according to Forbes.

Who is Nvidia's CFO now?

Kress. She remains executive vice president and CFO while serving as interim CEO.

Why did Jensen Huang resign?

Nvidia's 8-K gave no reason. The resignation followed reports about Huang's personal relationships, his Nov. 8 apology for being "unfaithful to my wife," and a board investigation, as reported by CNBC and Yahoo Finance.