Nvidia’s search for a new CEO could reach into Apple’s leadership, with Johny Srouji reportedly being considered for the top job following Jensen Huang’s departure.
Semafor reported on November 11 that Apple’s hardware chief was one person under consideration, citing a person familiar with the matter. That is not an appointment, and there is no confirmation that Srouji has agreed to leave Apple.
The report came before Nvidia announced Huang’s resignation as president, CEO and a board member on November 12. Chief financial officer Colette Kress is serving as interim CEO while keeping her finance role, as Nvidia searches for a permanent replacement among internal and external candidates.
Srouji is not just another senior executive. He helped build the chip organisation behind Apple’s move toward designing the processors at the heart of its products, joining the company in 2008 to lead development of the A4.
Apple promoted him to chief hardware officer in April, combining hardware technologies with hardware engineering, the organisation previously led by John Ternus. His remit now stretches well beyond chips to Apple’s hardware products, including product design, system engineering, reliability, displays, cameras, batteries and cellular technologies.
That makes this a potential leadership issue for Apple, not simply a recruiting story about Nvidia. Apple has already reshaped its hardware organization, and a departure would mean finding someone to lead the combined operation just months after giving Srouji the expanded job.
For now, he remains Apple’s chief hardware officer, reporting to CEO John Ternus. Srouji previously worked on processor development and design at Intel and IBM. Semafor also noted that he had been considered for Intel’s CEO position in 2019.
President Donald Trump has publicly backed a different Apple figure for Nvidia’s top job: Tim Cook.
In a Truth Social post following Huang’s resignation, Trump called Cook the person to replace him, writing: “A Legend replaces a Legend!”
Cook of course is now Apple’s executive chairman, not its CEO. Ternus succeeded him as Apple CEO in September.
As for where else Jensen could end up? Elon Musk today said hiring Jensen “would be an honor”, and the latter could play a major role in the company’s upcoming Terafab chip factory.
Would Srouji be the right person to lead Nvidia, or is he too important to Apple’s future hardware plans?
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