Nvidia is facing questions over its next leadership after reports of Jensen Huang's exit following revelations of extramarital affairs. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress has taken charge on an interim basis, while the company looks for a long-term successor.
Although Nvidia has not named any potential candidates, a report by Axios suggests that several Indian-origin executives could be in the running. Among the names being discussed are Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora and Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian.
Indian-Origin Entrepreneurs In Race For Nvidia CEO Post
Among the names being floated for Nvidia's top job is Nikesh Arora. Arora is presently the CEO of cybersecurity firm Palo Alto Networks. He has worked at a number of tech companies over the years, including Google and T-Mobile.
Before joining Palo Alto Networks, Arora served as the President and COO of global tech investment firm SoftBank. He serves on the board of Uber and is a non-executive director of Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A.
Jay Puri, who spent more than two decades at Nvidia, is also being considered to take over as the CEO, as per Fortune India. Puri retired from his executive role at the chipmaker in August this year and moved into an advisory position.
Puri joined Nvidia in 2006 after a 22-year career at Sun Microsystems, where he held positions in marketing, sales and general management. He previously worked at Hewlett-Packard, Booz Allen & Hamilton and Texas Instruments.
Google Cloud chief Thomas Kurian is also reportedly in the running. Before joining Google as the head of its cloud services in 2018, Kurian spent 22 years at Oracle. He worked at McKinsey as a business analyst and engagement manager. Kurian has almost three decades of experience in engineering, enterprise relationships and leadership of large organisations.
Also Read: Who Benefits From Jensen Huang's Nvidia Exit? Indian Influencer Breaks Down Who Stands To Gain And Lose
Other Candidates In The Running?
Nvidia is reportedly considering both internal and external candidates for the CEO post, as per the Financial Times.
Tae Kim, author of The Nvidia Way, predicted in a blog post on Thursday that there were “only two choices” for the position: Arm boss Rene Haas and Ian Buck, who heads Nvidia's critical data centre business.
US President Donald Trump suggested former Apple boss Tim Cook as a candidate in a post on Truth Social. Current AMD chief executive Lisa Su and Huang's daughter Madison are also reportedly in consideration. There is also speculation that Colette Kress may take over the post for the long term.
Also Read: Nvidia Shares Crash 13% In A Week, Wiping Out $573 Billion As Jensen Huang Exits
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