SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 13 — When it comes to choosing Nvidia's next chief executive officer, US President Donald Trump is thinking outside the box.
After the AI chipmaker's board parted ways with chief executive Jensen Huang, Trump wrote on social media yesterday: “There is only one man to take his place — TIM COOK of Apple. A Legend replaces a Legend!”
The search is now under way for a permanent successor, with Nvidia saying its board is considering both internal and external candidates.
Analysts and investors want someone who understands the technology, has vision and possesses financial acumen, given that Nvidia has been a major investor in the AI boom as well as a chip manufacturer. Experience running a large company is also likely to be a key requirement.
Nvidia's chief financial officer Colette Kress, who has been named interim CEO, and engineering expert Ian Buck bring expertise in the two areas investors value most: the company's finances and its technology.
Traders on prediction market website Polymarket favoured Buck as the most likely candidate to become Nvidia's next CEO, followed by Kress, Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas and Cook.
Here are some of the names being discussed by semiconductor industry observers:
Colette Kress, Nvidia CFO
Veteran executive Kress was named interim CEO yesterday, with analysts and investors saying her experience, authority and strong relationships with Wall Street make her a suitable choice to steer the company through the crisis.
Kress has served as Nvidia's CFO since 2013. Before that, she built a long career at major technology companies, including Microsoft, Cisco and semiconductor manufacturer Texas Instruments.
A key question, however, is who would assume the role of technology visionary if she were to lead the company permanently.
Ian Buck, Nvidia vice-president of hyperscale and high-performance computing
Buck, who joined Nvidia in 2004, played a leading role in developing the technology that transformed the company from a video game chip specialist into the dominant force in AI hardware.
He helped lead the development of CUDA, the software platform that enabled general-purpose computing on Nvidia's graphics processors.
Buck also works closely with major customers in his role overseeing Nvidia's AI hardware and software products.
Investors will be looking for a visionary capable of anticipating the next technological breakthrough, a key part of Buck's responsibilities.
“One of the most challenging parts of my job often is to try to predict the future, but AI is always surprising us,” Buck said at a Bank of America conference last year.
Rene Haas, Arm CEO
Arm CEO Rene Haas spent seven formative years at Nvidia, rising to vice president and general manager of its computing products business before joining Arm in 2013.
He became CEO in 2022, overseeing the British chipmaker's Nasdaq listing in 2023.
In April, he also assumed leadership of parent company SoftBank's international business and serves on the SoftBank Group board.
Arm designs processor architectures and licenses them to other companies, which then develop their own chip designs.
Historically strong in mobile phones, Arm has been expanding into computers, giving it considerable overlap with Nvidia, which is also a chip designer, although Arm is significantly smaller in revenue and workforce size.
Pat Gelsinger, former Intel CEO
Pat Gelsinger led an ambitious effort to turn around Intel but left the chipmaker in 2024 after fewer than four years, as his restructuring efforts struggled to gain traction.
Nevertheless, Gelsinger is among a small group of executives worldwide with experience running a semiconductor company.
He understands both chip design and manufacturing, as Intel handles both operations.
Nvidia does not manufacture its own chips, but its success depends heavily on maintaining close relationships with its manufacturing partners.
Gelsinger began his career at Intel at 18 and spent 30 years with the company, eventually becoming its first chief technology officer.
He later led VMware for nearly a decade before returning to Intel as CEO in 2021.
Lisa Su, AMD CEO
Lisa Su heads one of Nvidia's biggest rivals, AMD. Her appointment as Huang's successor would represent a major disruption for AMD and a significant shift across the semiconductor industry.
Su and Huang were both born in Taiwan and have described each other as distant relatives.
However, Su is known for a markedly different, less flamboyant leadership style than Huang, who frequently attracted large crowds during his visits to Asia.
Her quieter approach has helped her build relationships in the important Chinese market, where she has secured meetings with China's commerce minister and Vice Premier He Lifeng.
As US export controls caused Nvidia's market share in China to plummet, AMD under Su continued to find opportunities in the country, including through central processing units (CPUs) and consumer graphics processing units (GPUs).
These helped AMD secure a four per cent share of China's AI chip market.
Tim Cook, former Apple CEO
Could Trump be right?
Tim Cook successfully navigated the difficult task of leading Apple after co-founder Steve Jobs died in 2011, giving him experience in succeeding a legendary technology leader.
During his 15-year tenure as CEO, Apple's market capitalisation surged from RM1.43 trillion (US$350 billion) to RM18.36 trillion (US$4.5 trillion).
Apple is now the only company worth more than Nvidia.
Cook earned praise for overseeing the development of successful products such as the Apple Watch and AirPods, while also expanding Apple's services business into a major revenue generator.
He doubled down on China as Apple's primary manufacturing base, delivering substantial efficiency gains but also exposing the company to risks, particularly as Trump raised tariffs.
Cook also cultivated a relationship with Trump, maintaining regular telephone contact and attending private dinners with the president and others.
He remains executive chairman of Apple's board and continues to travel internationally to promote the company's interests.
His engagements included a trip to China in October, his third visit to the country this year.
