Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang faces internal turmoil amid financing disputes and leadership clash

Nvidia's founder and chief executive Jensen Huang is confronting internal challenges following a tense meeting with chief financial officer Colette Kress, according to reports. During the session, Huang reportedly described Kress as "a deer in the headlights" while questioning the company's multibillion-dollar financing guarantees for customers unable to purchase its chips. Sources said the discussion focused on deals led by Huang's son-in-law, Nico Caprez, which aimed to secure long-term cloud-computing and data-center clients but raised concerns about risk and return.

The meeting also highlighted worries that major cloud providers were shifting away from Nvidia's products and that the company's commitment to purchase large volumes of silicon wafers and memory chips could become an "avalanche" of liability. Kress, who has overseen Nvidia's finance function since 2013, is said to have pushed back on the financing program and sought to limit the involvement of Caprez.

Separately, Nvidia was negotiating a massive financial backstop for an OpenAI data-center project that could have involved up to $250 billion in guarantees. After Kress altered the terms, the agreement was scaled back and signed in August, cutting Nvidia's commitment by half. The news coincided with a 5 % drop in Nvidia shares, erasing roughly $250 billion from the company's market value.

Biographer Stephen Witt, who has written about Huang, described the situation as a clash of personalities and cited Huang's close relationship with President Donald Trump as a factor that may have intensified scrutiny. Witt suggested that Huang's efforts to influence export policy for Nvidia chips created tension with other officials in the administration.

Kress, a veteran finance executive with prior roles at Texas Instruments, Microsoft, and Cisco, has been praised in past earnings calls for her strategic insight. Her tenure at Nvidia has seen revenue grow from $4.13 billion to $215.9 billion, but the current financing disputes underscore growing concerns about the company's strategic direction and valuation.