Without Huang, Nvidia's flat structure 'isn't built to last'
Nvidia's unusually flat structure worked because Jensen Huang personally held it together, management experts say — and his exit leaves no one with the full picture.
A structure built around one man
Jensen Huang, who co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and resigned as chief executive on Thursday, ran the company with an unusually flat structure: about 60 direct reports and few layers of management. He told podcaster Lex Fridman in March 2026 that he had a 'direct staff' of approximately 60 employees, far more than a typical chief executive. 'The more direct reports a CEO has, the less layers are in the company. It allows us to keep information fluid,' he told CNBC's Andrew Ross Sorkin in 2023.
Huang said the structure was 'designed to adapt well in a world of change, either caused by us or affecting us.' With so few layers, decisions moved fast — but the system depended on one person at the center.
Why experts say it cannot last
Management experts say the flat structure worked only because Huang personally held it together. 'Because [Huang] has been a strong leader with a strong vision,' said Jo-Ellen Pozner, an associate professor of management at Santa Clara University's Leavey School of Business. Without him, she said, it is 'not an organizational structure that's built to last.' She expects the next leader to steer Nvidia toward a more traditional management structure.
Joseph Fuller, a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, said Huang held 'a tremendous amount of power.' 'He's the orchestrator. He's the coordinator. He's resolving the disputes. He's allocating the resources,' Fuller said. Pozner said 'there is likely nobody who is able to coordinate among those various people with their different expertise and domains,' which could slow technical work, and 'nobody else has the big picture view' Huang did. With dozens of direct reports, she added, it is unlikely Huang had time to groom a subordinate to take over.
Denise Rousseau, a professor of organizational behavior and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, offered a counterweight: fewer management layers can strengthen 'local leaders' in each area, which can help steady Nvidia through the transition.
- Direct reportsAbout 60
- Nvidia founded1993
- Shares on ThursdayDown 14% intraday, closed down 4.3%
- Interim CEO age59
Kress holds the interim job
Colette Kress, 59, Nvidia's longtime chief financial officer, has been handed the top job on an interim basis while the board searches for a permanent successor, Reuters reported. Kress spent years as the one Nvidia executive willing to check Huang's ambitious bets, pushing back as he drove the chipmaker deeper into multibillion-dollar AI investments, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Whether Kress keeps the chief executive role permanently is yet to be decided. Other names have surfaced, including Nvidia executive Ian Buck, who helped launch AI on Nvidia chips and led development of the CUDA software system. Nvidia shares slumped 14% to their lowest in nearly 16 months on Thursday after the company said Huang would step down, but pared the loss to close down 4.3%.
