Bessent says Nvidia must hire outside CEO after Huang exit

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that Nvidia ↘ 2.01% needs a "dramatic shakeup" and should hire its next chief executive from outside the company. His comments came days after Jensen Huang resigned. Bessent also gave the chipmaker's board and outside counsel 10 days to explain whether its culture encouraged sales of AI chips that he said may have been illicit.

"This makes me think that as the board conducts a search for a new leader that they need to go outside the company," Bessent told Fox News' ↗ 4.09% "Sunday Morning Futures," according to Reuters, adding that "they need a dramatic shakeup."reuters.com

Ten-day deadline

Bessent said he wants to know whether Nvidia ignored warning signs about shell companies, many of them based in Singapore, that sent chips to China. "Were they pressing these seemingly illicit sales to goose their revenues and their earnings?" he asked. "I think we need answers in the next 10 days from the board and from the outside counsel," he said, Investing.com reported. Bloomberg reported the same remarks.bloomberg.com+1

He suggested the problems went beyond Huang. "If this were a bank and they hadn't complied like this, the OCC would be in there right now, and a lot of the executives would be removed," he said, CNBC Comcast Corporation ↗ 1.45% reported. Bessent also questioned Nvidia's disclosures, pointing to a jump in reported Singapore revenue while its China sales fell. Nvidia stopped reporting Singapore revenue as a separate line in November 2025.cnbc.com

Leadership in flux

Huang resigned on Thursday, Nov. 12, as president, CEO and board member, effective immediately, according to Nvidia's SEC filing. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress became interim CEO, and the board said it will consider both internal and external candidates. He stepped down after reports of his relationship with a former executive of Singapore-based Megaspeed, whom U.S. officials suspect of spying for China, CNBC reported.sec.gov+1

Nvidia is set to report third-quarter fiscal 2027 results on Tuesday, Nov. 17, per the filing. The board has approached Rene Haas, CEO of Arm Holdings ↘ 4.63%, the Financial Times reported Friday, according to Reuters.reuters.com+1

Washington feud

The interview builds on Bessent's Friday criticism of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. That day, Bessent said several agencies had backed adding Megaspeed to the export blacklist for months, "but Commerce has the pen," the AP reported. Lutnick has agreed to testify before the Senate Banking Committee on Dec. 10, The Hill reported via Yahoo.yahoo.com+1

In Congress, support is growing for bipartisan chip-export bills, including the Chip Security Act, that could be attached to year-end defense legislation, according to wire reports. Bessent rejected that approach. "I don't think we need the legislation," he said, according to Seeking Alpha. "We have all the rules we need. We just need them enforced."nwaonline.com+1