US Treasury chief says NVIDIA should ‘go outside the company’ to replace Jensen Huang as CEO

Candidates reportedly include Apple’s Johny Srouji, AMD’s Lisa Su, and Arm’s Rene Haas, while Trump has called for former Apple CEO Tim Cook to take the job.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday said NVIDIA needs to “go outside the company” as it seeks a new chief executive after Jensen Huang stepped down amid revelations of extramarital affairs.

Bessent was speaking to Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” show.

Outside candidates to replace Jensen Huang

Among the outside candidates the chipmaker’s board is reportedly considering are two Israelis: Johny Srouji, Apple’s chief hardware officer, and Eyal Waldman, founder and former CEO of Mellanox.

According to Calcalist, Srouji’s main advantage is his experience leading Apple’s silicon strategy, which allowed the iPhone maker to develop its own chips for its products. The main argument against his appointment is that he was promoted to chief hardware officer only in April 2026, a little more than half a year ago.

Waldman is also among those being considered, Ynet reported. He co-founded Mellanox, an Israeli networking company that NVIDIA acquired in 2020 for some $7 billion, and his experience as a CEO could give him an edge.

Other outside candidates reportedly being considered include Rene Haas, CEO of Arm and a former NVIDIA executive; Lisa Su, CEO of NVIDIA competitor AMD; and Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services.

Trump pushes Tim Cook as NVIDIA’s next CEO

US President Donald Trump has also weighed in, saying former Apple CEO Tim Cook should take the helm.

“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,” Trump wrote on social media. “A Legend replaces a Legend!”

A third Israeli, Michael Kagan, NVIDIA’s chief technology officer, is also reportedly under consideration, according to Calcalist. Kagan co-founded Mellanox with Waldman and has spent the past several years developing technology at NVIDIA, giving him contacts inside the company.