Jensen Huang’s resignation may just prove the ‘irreplaceable CEO’ is a myth
His successor will first have to figure out how to run a company built around someone who is no longer there.
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Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stepped down on Nov 12 after nearly a week of turmoil at the company he co-founded and the industry he anchored.
PHOTO: MANUEL ORBEGOZO/NYTIMES
Beth Kowitt
The year was 2009 and Oracle’s then chief executive officer was talking about his friend Steve Jobs, who had recently returned to lead Apple after a liver transplant. Pundits would later go on to say the same about Jeff Bezos, that Amazon’s founder and CEO had “no viable successor”. (Both companies, of course, would go on to do just fine without their founders.)
It’s worth remembering those prophecies as that word – irreplaceable – gets bandied around with abandon about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who stepped down Thursday after nearly a week of turmoil at the company he co-founded and the industry he anchored. One of many examples: “I believe Jensen is irreplaceable for America’s AI leadership,” Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire posted on X, a sentiment Elon Musk endorsed.