Nvidia CEO Search Reaches Arm Chief Rene Haas, FT Reports
Nvidia's board has sounded out Arm chief Rene Haas, who spent seven years at Nvidia, as interim CEO Colette Kress prepares to host Nov. 17 earnings call.
Hakkı ALKANPublished 3 min read
The Financial Times reported on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, that Nvidia's board has approached Arm Holdings CEO Rene Haas as it searches for the next Nvidia CEO after Jensen Huang's exit. The report, citing people familiar with the matter, says Haas is among several candidates under consideration, and there is no guarantee he will be offered the job or accept it.
Haas, who spent seven years at Nvidia before joining Arm in 2013, is one of the most closely watched names in the Nvidia CEO search. As Reuters noted, he later became Arm CEO in 2022 and oversaw Arm's Nasdaq listing in 2023. Arm told Fox Business, "It's a no comment from us," while Arm declined to comment to Reuters and Nvidia did not immediately respond to Reuters.
Who Else Is In The Nvidia CEO Search?
The FT report said Haas has a strong relationship with Huang and some Nvidia board members, but it did not say he is the only outside option. Bloomberg has separately reported that CUDA creator Ian Buck, who leads Nvidia's data center and accelerated computing business, and Apple chief hardware officer Johny Srouji are also potential candidates. The FT had earlier said that analysts have mentioned AMD CEO Lisa Su as another possible external choice.
On Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026, Huang resigned as CEO, president and director after the board investigated reports of extramarital relationships, including one involving an executive at Megaspeed that some U.S. officials suspected was a Chinese intelligence source. Nvidia named CFO Colette Kress as interim CEO, while she remains CFO Harvey C. Jones chairs the board. Nvidia said the board is initiating a search for a permanent chief executive and will consider internal and external candidates. For the broader context on that transition, see our coverage of Huang's resignation and Kress's interim role.
Why Does Haas Stand Out?
Haas is unusual because he combines deep Nvidia history with current leadership of a key partner. Reuters said he rose to vice president and general manager of Nvidia's computing products business before moving to Arm, whose processor architectures power a wide range of chips and are expanding beyond mobile phones into computers and data centers. Arm is owned mostly by SoftBank.
That makes Haas a rare outsider who still understands Nvidia from the inside. But it also raises practical questions for Arm, SoftBank and the many licensees that rely on Arm's architecture if its CEO were to move to one of the company's most important customers.
How Are Markets Reacting?
Reuters reported that Arm's U.S.-listed shares pared losses after the report but were still down more than 5% on Friday, while Nvidia shares were down more than 3%. Investors will likely watch for a fast, technically credible appointment as Nvidia faces its next earnings report on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2026, at 1:20 p.m. PT, with Kress set to host the call. Our coverage of Nvidia stock's reaction shows how hard the leadership shock hit the stock.
| Reported candidates | Current role | Nvidia link or tie | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rene Haas | CEO, Arm | Former Nvidia executive; current partner leader | FT, Reuters |
| Ian Buck | Head of data center and accelerated computing at Nvidia | CUDA creator; internal candidate | Bloomberg |
| Johny Srouji | Apple chief hardware officer | External candidate mentioned in reports | Bloomberg |
| Lisa Su | CEO, AMD | External candidate mentioned by analysts | FT |
What Should Readers Watch Next?
Huang has also agreed to testify before Congress, a process we track in our report on his upcoming testimony. Any formal Nvidia statement naming finalists, or a comment from Arm or SoftBank, would be the first confirmation beyond anonymous sources.
Our take: Haas fits the kind of technically fluent leader investors would want, but he is also a sensitive choice because he leads Arm, a crucial partner in Nvidia's ecosystem. Until Nvidia confirms a name, this remains a report, not a decision.