President Donald Trump proposed former Apple chief Tim Cook to replace Jensen Huang as CEO of chipmaking giant Nvidia.
Huang resigned as president, CEO, and board member, effective immediately, at the $4 trillion company on Nov. 12. Colette Kress, Nvidia’s chief financial officer, was selected as his interim replacement.
In his first public statement since Huang’s departure, the president on Thursday suggested Cook become the next permanent head of Nvidia.
“Now that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who has done a fantastic job, has resigned, there is only one man to take his place – Tim Cook of Apple. A Legend replaces a Legend!” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
After 15 years as Apple CEO, Cooked stepped down to become the iPhone maker’s executive chairman. He was succeeded by John Ternus, who had previously served as senior vice president of hardware engineering.
Trump has been complimentary of Cook in the past, calling him an “incredible guy.”
“Tim Cook had an amazing career, almost incomparable, and will go on and continue to do great work for Apple, and whatever else he chooses to work on,” the president said in an April post on Truth Social.
When Cook took over from Steve Jobs in 2011, he inherited a roughly $350 billion company. Fifteen years later, it briefly crossed the $5 trillion milestone.
Hiring Cook would be a terrific opportunity for investors, said Ken Mahoney, president and CEO of Mahoney Asset Management.
“If he were to take the helm, well that is probably a mega long,” Mahoney said in a note emailed to The Epoch Times.
Prediction markets favor Ian Buck, a high-level executive at Nvidia, to become the new CEO, with 38 percent odds as of 2:30 p.m. EST on Nov. 12. This is followed by Kress (15 percent) and Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas (10 percent).
“Nvidia’s succession remains far from settled,” Ben Mendelowitz, prediction markets analyst at The Action Network, said in a statement to The Epoch Times.
“The odds highlight the uncertainty between technical expertise and leadership continuity, while external contenders Rene Haas and Lisa Su remain in the picture.”
Su, currently the CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), was named Yahoo Finance CEO of the Year this week.
‘That Would Be an Honor’
Huang’s professional future is unclear, but he might have an easy time finding new work.
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested he would give Huang a job.
“That would be an honor,” Musk said in a Nov. 11 post on X in response to financial blog Zerohedge, which stated, “Elon please hire Jensen.”
If hired, Huang would not have a hard time navigating SpaceX operations. The company is largely centered on Nvidia hardware, and the chipmaker maintains a $21 billion stake in SpaceX.
Musk, in the company’s debut earnings call in August, said SpaceX has been built “exclusively on Nvidia,” and it would continue to absorb a greater percentage of its graphics processing units—or GPUs—the chips that train and run artificial intelligence (AI) models.
As Nvidia Turns
Nvidia’s short-term prospects could remain intact as many of the deals for 2027 and 2028 have likely been arranged.
Its long-term fundamentals may also be sound, according to Siebert Financial CIO Mark Malek.
“Nvidia’s competitive position extends beyond its founder,” Malek told The Epoch Times in an emailed note, pointing to its software ecosystem, established customer relationships, and enormous demand for AI infrastructure.
While there are still risks ahead, markets could be confusing Jensen Huang’s value with the company value.
“Jensen Huang was arguably more indispensable five years ago than he is today. Back then, investors were buying his vision; today, they are buying an established business with substantial demand and a formidable competitive moat,” Malek said.
Shares of Nvidia tumbled as much as 13 percent after Huang’s resignation. They pared their losses as investors bought the dip in one of the world’s richest companies. The stock slumped about 6 percent near the closing bell.
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