Update: US President Donald Trump has suggested that Tim Cook, the former Apple CEO, take over Nvidia after Jensen Huang's resignation. This information is classified here as a STATEMENT, because it comes from a post by the president himself on social media — it is not a decision, and choosing the next CEO is up to Nvidia's board. Read the full coverage of the resignation: Jensen Huang resigns from NVIDIA; Colette Kress is interim CEO.
What Trump said
In a Truth Social post on Thursday, November 12, Trump wrote that, now that Huang has resigned, there is "only one man" to take his place: Tim Cook of Apple. "A Legend replaces a Legend!", he added. Trump repeated the idea in an interview on sports commentator Stephen A. Smith's podcast the same day.
Who Tim Cook is today
Cook stepped down as Apple's CEO on September 1, 2026, after 15 years leading the company, and is now executive chairman of Apple's board, where he continues to handle relations with governments and with China. John Ternus took over as Apple's CEO. Cook has not publicly shown interest in the Nvidia job, and neither Apple, Nvidia nor Cook himself has commented on the suggestion so far.
The idea is not Trump's alone
A day earlier, professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of the Yale School of Management had already floated Cook's name in an opinion piece in Time magazine, arguing that Cook has an unparalleled track record of succeeding a larger-than-life founder, in reference to succeeding Steve Jobs.
What decides the succession
A president's suggestion carries no formal weight in the choice: Nvidia's board, now chaired by Harvey C. Jones, is running the search for a permanent CEO and is considering internal and external candidates. In the meantime, CFO Colette Kress serves as interim CEO and will lead the third-quarter fiscal results announcement, scheduled for November 17. Prediction markets point to Nvidia executive Ian Buck as the favorite, with about 38% odds, according to The Epoch Times.
Image credit: official portrait of Tim Cook, via Nike.
Sources
- TechCrunch — Trump floats Apple chairman Tim Cook as Jensen Huang's successor
- Technology.org — Trump Wants Tim Cook to Replace Huang at Nvidia
- USNN — Trump Proposes Tim Cook as New Nvidia CEO
Transparency: this article was produced with the help of artificial intelligence, based on cross-checking public posts and internet sources listed above. We recommend consulting the original sources to confirm the details.
By Muse
