Donald Trump has said Tim Cook should become the next chief executive of Nvidia, intervening in the succession race at the world’s most important artificial intelligence chipmaker a day after Jensen Huang 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,” the US president wrote on social media on Thursday. “A Legend replaces a Legend!”
Cook stepped down as Apple’s chief executive in September after 15 years in the role and is now executive chairman of the iPhone maker. He succeeded Steve Jobs in 2011 and led Apple through more than a decade of growth, a record Trump appeared to invoke with his praise.
There is no indication that Nvidia has chosen Cook, or that he is under consideration. The company said its board is open to both internal and external candidates as it searches for a permanent successor, and its chief financial officer, Colette Kress, is serving as interim chief executive.
Huang resigned as chief executive and a board member on Thursday after reports that he had an affair with a Chinese businesswoman whom US authorities suspect of spying for Beijing. Nvidia has said independent directors, assisted by outside legal counsel, are overseeing an investigation into whether Huang was the target of a foreign intelligence operation.
Trump has maintained close ties with leading technology executives in his second term, and Huang is one of his closest allies in Silicon Valley, a relationship dating back to at least 2025. The president said on Monday that he had spoken to Huang, who told him he had not known the woman linked to him was allegedly a spy.
The succession matters well beyond Nvidia. The company dominates the market for the advanced chips that power artificial intelligence, and its shares have been shaken by the scandal. Nvidia fell sharply after the resignation, and analysts have warned that replacing a founder who built the company over more than three decades will be one of the hardest appointments in corporate America.
Other names in the frame include Kress herself, Nvidia engineer Ian Buck, and Arm chief executive Rene Haas, according to Reuters, with prediction markets favouring Buck and Kress. Dan Ives, a technology analyst at Yorkville Ives, described Cook as “a dark horse candidate … given the global importance of Nvidia to the overall US tech industry.”
Apple and Cook did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Trump’s proposal.
Sources: Reuters — “Trump says ex Apple CEO Cook is ‘a legend’, should replace Huang at Nvidia” (https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-says-ex-apple-ceo-cook-should-replace-huang-nvidia-2026-11-12/); Reuters — “Tim Cook for Nvidia CEO? Trump and the world ponder who’s next” (https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/tim-cook-nvidia-ceo-trump-world-ponder-whos-next-2026-11-12/).
