Tim Cook Nvidia has become a shorthand for a boardroom shock at Nvidia, where the board is preparing to oust Jensen Huang. The board could meet as soon as Wednesday night. That leaves a $3.83 trillion company facing a sudden leadership break with no named successor in place.
Jensen Huang and Nvidia
The reported at 5:27 PM ET on Wednesday that the board was moving toward removing Huang. The same report said Nvidia could meet as soon as Wednesday night.
That sequence matters because the company has never named a successor. A founder-led structure can absorb continuity better than a handoff built around an announced heir.
Ian Buck at Nvidia
Ian Buck is being discussed as a possible replacement. He runs Nvidia’s hyperscale and high-performance computing business. He has been at Nvidia for about two decades.
Buck also helped build CUDA. CUDA is the software platform that lets developers write programs for Nvidia’s chips. That background gives him an operational profile that fits the part of the company most tied to AI execution.
CUDA and succession risk
Dennis Hong wrote on X on Wednesday afternoon, “It's probably going to be Ian Buck.” He also wrote, “Been there for two decades and a key architect of CUDA. Arguably the most interesting and probable candidate because he understands the technology moat, and not just the financial model.”
On Wednesday evening, the authors behind Yale’s CEO leadership forums called Buck “a hugely strong replacement” in a Time essay. Gil Luria said, “Mr. Huang being removed immediately could be challenging for Nvidia since it does not have a succession plan in place,” according to.
That is the fracture in the story. Nvidia has a possible replacement under discussion, but it has no named successor. Investors and employees are left watching whether the board actually moves and whether Buck becomes more than a candidate name attached to a volatile night.
