President Donald Trump has his own recommendation for Nvidia’s next CEO — Tim Cook.
In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump called Cook, Apple’s former CEO, the “only one man” to replace Jensen Huang after the more-than-three-decade Nvidia boss resigned.
“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 the post.
Trump is a longtime fan of Cook, who stepped down as Apple’s CEO earlier this year and took on the role of executive chairman of Apple’s board of directors.
The president has previously called Cook an “amazing manager and leader” and commended him for calling him directly on the phone.
“He calls me and the others don’t,” Trump said during his first term. “Others go out and hire very expensive consultants, and Tim Cook calls Donald Trump directly. Pretty good.”
In April, after Apple announced that Cook would step down as CEO, Trump called Cook an “incredible guy” in a Truth Social post. Trump added that 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.”
Nvidia’s board of directors announced Huang’s exit as the AI chip giant’s CEO earlier Thursday, after a tumultuous week for Huang, marked by a company investigation and revelations about two extramarital affairs.
On Sunday, Huang said in a note to staff that he had been “unfaithful” to his wife of more than 40 years.
“My actions hurt her and our children,” Huang wrote. “There is no excuse for what I did. I am deeply sorry.”
This followed a New York Times report last month that said Huang had developed a close relationship with Alice Huang, a former executive at Nvidia customer Megaspeed. The report said US intelligence officials believe the woman was recruited to gather information for the Chinese government.
The Nvidia founder’s admission of an affair triggered an independent board investigation into the billionaire businessman.
Amid that investigation, led by an elite Wall Street law firm, the Times reported that Jensen Huang also had an extramarital affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of healthcare.
Powell was one of Jensen Huang’s direct reports.
Nvidia said CFO Colette Kress will serve as interim CEO until a permanent successor is named.
