Nvidia board considers Arm CEO Rene Haas as possible successor to Jensen Huang

Nvidia's board has reportedly approached Arm Holdings chief Rene Haas as a candidate to succeed Jensen Huang, according to the Financial Times. Haas, who spent seven years at Nvidia in senior product roles before joining Arm in 2013, became Arm's CEO in 2022 and oversaw its Nasdaq listing last year. The board is also considering other internal and external candidates, including finance chief Colette Kress, who is acting as interim CEO, veteran engineer Ian Buck, and former Apple chief Tim Cook, a name floated by US President Donald Trump. Analysts say the next chief could mark a shift from Huang's hands-on leadership style toward a more institutional structure as Nvidia faces increased regulatory scrutiny and potential new export restrictions to China. Arm declined to comment on the report, and Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Following the news, Arm's US-listed shares fell more than 5%, while Nvidia's shares dropped over 3%.

"Haas' name has been making the rounds among analysts since Huang's exit," the Financial Times reported. "Analysts view Kress as a steady financial authority, while veteran engineer Ian Buck is seen as a top candidate after leading development of CUDA," the report added.