誰會成為輝達下一任執行長？頂尖工程師與財務長被看好成候選人

安庫爾・班納吉（Ankur Banerjee）、彼得・韓德森（Peter Henderson）與安哈塔・魯普拉伊（Anhata Rooprai）／報導By Ankur Banerjee, Peter Henderson and Anhata Rooprai

舊金山11月11日（路透）— 輝達執行長黃仁勳從未指定接班人，但許多分析師與投資人認為，至少就短期而言，有兩人特別可能成為候選人：輝達的超級工程師伊恩・巴克（Ian Buck），以及財務長柯蕾特・克雷斯（Colette Kress）。SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has never anointed a successor, but many analysts and investors see two people as particularly likely candidates, at least for the short term: Nvidia's uber-engineer Ian Buck and Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress.

一名知情人士告訴路透社，輝達董事會週三將開會決定是否撤換黃仁勳。這家全球 AI 處理器主導供應商正面臨其長期領導人涉及兩段婚外情的報導。輝達未立即回應有關董事會會議的採訪請求。Nvidia's board is meeting on Wednesday to decide whether to oust Huang, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the world's dominant supplier of AI processors grapples with reports of two extramarital affairs involving its longtime leader. Nvidia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the board meeting.

黃仁勳並非一般執行長。他是充滿魅力、身穿皮衣的輝達晶片傳教士，以電玩處理器打造這家公司，將它轉型為人工智慧機器，進而創造出全球最具價值的公司。Huang isn't the usual CEO. He is a charismatic, leather-jacket-wearing apostle of Nvidia chips who built the company on processors for video games, transformed it into an artificial intelligence machine, and, in turn, created the most valuable company in the world.

雪梨 Floodlines Research 創辦人安娜・吳（Anna Wu）表示：「黃仁勳是業界搖滾巨星。他直言不諱，幾乎等同於輝達品牌本身，像這樣的領導人非常難以取代。」"Jensen Huang is a rockstar in the industry. He’s outspoken and synonymous with the Nvidia brand, and a leader like that is very hard to replace," said Anna Wu, founder of Floodlines Research in Sydney.

這種疑慮已促成輝達本週市值蒸發6000億美元，使其目前成為全球市值第二高的公司。That fear has contributed to a $600 billion selloff of Nvidia's shares this week, now making it the world's second-most valuable company.

週三，外界猜測若黃仁勳遭撤換，可能被點名接任的人選範圍很廣，從競爭晶片巨頭的領導人，例如 Arm 執行長雷內・哈斯（Rene Haas），到任職輝達32年的資深主管傑夫・費雪（Jeff Fisher），以及黃仁勳兩名子女之一；兩人都在輝達擔任主管。On Wednesday, speculation on who might be tapped if Huang is ousted ranged from a leader of a rival chip giant, such as Arm chief Rene Haas, and 32-year Nvidia veteran Jeff Fisher, to one of Huang's two children, both of whom are executives at Nvidia.

董事會會選擇技術主管還是財務主管？WOULD THE BOARD PICK A TECH OR FINANCE HEAD?

一些分析師表示，填補空缺最簡單的方式之一，是轉向與黃仁勳一同出席季度財報電話會議的人：財務長克雷斯。現年59歲的克雷斯在微軟、思科與晶片製造商德州儀器（Texas Instruments）等其他科技業巨頭長期任職後，於2013年加入輝達。Semafor 引述知情人士報導，輝達部分董事會成員支持任命她為臨時執行長。One of the simplest ways to fill the void, some analysts said, would be to turn to the person who has joined Huang in quarterly results calls: CFO Kress. Kress, who is 59, joined Nvidia in 2013 after a long career at other tech industry giants including Microsoft, Cisco and chip maker Texas Instruments. Some members of Nvidia’s board favor appointing her as interim CEO, Semafor reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

交易平台 eToro 首席分析師喬許・吉爾伯特（Josh Gilbert）表示：「柯蕾特・克雷斯是穩住局面的顯而易見人選。她擔任財務長已13年，且每次財報電話會議都與他一同站到台前，因此在市場極需可信聲音之際，她是市場熟悉且信任的聲音。」"Colette Kress is the obvious choice to steady the ship. She has been CFO for 13 years and fronts every earnings call alongside him, so she’s a familiar and trusted voice for the market at a time when it badly needs one," said Josh Gilbert, lead analyst at trading platform eToro.

但他補充說：「不過，正式接任又是另一回事，因為輝達的優勢來自它的技術，董事會很可能會希望由工程背景人士坐上執行長位置。像伊恩・巴克這樣的人，領導了讓開發者持續綁定輝達晶片的軟體平台，就是你會預期被提出的內部人選。」But he added, "The permanent job is a different story, though, because Nvidia’s edge comes from its technology, and the board would likely want an engineer in the chair. Someone like Ian Buck, who led the software platform that keeps developers tied to Nvidia’s chips, is the sort of internal name you’d expect to come up."

工程師巴克於2004年加入輝達，曾協助在輝達晶片上啟動 AI，並是 CUDA 軟體系統開發的領導者。他解決「極度困難」技術問題的能力，無論誰出任執行長，都可能是引導輝達發展的關鍵。Engineer Buck, who joined in 2004, helped launch AI on Nvidia chips and was a leader in developing the CUDA software system. His prowess at solving "wickedly hard” technical problems could be crucial to guiding Nvidia's development, no matter who is CEO.

巴克擔任超大規模 AI 產品負責人，管理輝達的 AI 硬體與軟體產品。他擁有史丹佛大學博士學位，其研究成果後來發展成這家加州晶片設計公司的 AI 導向軟體。Buck manages Nvidia's AI hardware and software products as head of product for hyperscale AI. He has a PhD from Stanford for work that led to his AI-focused software at the California chip designer.

預測市場網站 Polymarket 的賠率顯示，黃仁勳在年底前辭職或被免職的機率為83%。其接班人賠率以巴克領先，克雷斯居次，不過該市場的交易量很小。Odds on prediction market website Polymarket showed an 83% chance that Huang would resign or be removed by the end of the year. Odds for his successor favored Buck, with Kress second, however volume on that market is small.

Futurum Equities 首席市場策略師謝伊・博盧爾（Shay Boloor）表示：「我更大的擔憂在下一個十年，因為黃仁勳不只是輝達的執行長，他也是那個一再辨識出運算將走向何方的人。」他說：「如果必須進行交接，那麼就長期內部候選人而言，伊恩・巴克是最有力的人選，因為他參與創造 CUDA，並領導輝達的超大規模業務。」"My bigger concern is next decade, because Jensen isn't simply Nvidia's CEO but he's the person who has consistently identified where computing is going," said Shay Boloor, chief market strategist of Futurum Equities. "If a transition becomes necessary then Ian Buck is the strongest long-term internal candidate given his role in creating CUDA and leading Nvidia’s hyperscale business," he said.

博盧爾補充說，Arm 執行長、輝達前主管哈斯可能是值得考慮的外部候選人。一名從事晶片交易的銀行人士告訴路透社，哈斯最具「邏輯上的合理性」，因為他知名度高，也了解半導體產業。Boloor added that Arm CEO and former Nvidia executive Haas could be an external candidate worth considering. A banker working on chips deals told Reuters that Haas made the most "logical sense" because he was high profile and also understood the semiconductor industry.

路透社發電子郵件向相關公司詢問，盼取得克雷斯、巴克與哈斯的回應，但未立即收到回覆。Reuters did not receive immediate responses to emails to the companies requesting comment from Kress, Buck and Haas.

根據近期 Business Insider 報導推算，巴克本人約49歲，他也會謙稱自己的能力。Buck himself, who is about 49, based on a recent Business Insider story, can be modest about his abilities.

巴克去年在美國銀行一場會議上表示：「我工作中最具挑戰性的部分之一，往往是試著預測未來，但 AI 總是不斷帶來驚喜。」巴克今年稍早告訴路透社：「推論很難。它極度困難。」他指的是 AI 回答使用者問題的過程。“One of the most challenging parts of my job often is to try to predict the future, but AI is always surprising us,” Buck said at a Bank of America conference last year. "Inference is hard. It’s wickedly hard,” Buck told Reuters earlier this year, referring to the process in which AI answers user questions.

輝達網站上的作者頁面收錄了一小批文章，展現巴克的技術功力，內容深入探討如何「推進代理式與實體 AI」、AI 與網路安全，以及與微軟和甲骨文（Oracle）等公司的交易。An author page on Nvidia's website holds a small trove of articles that show off Buck's tech chops, delving into how to "advance agentic and physical AI", AI and cybersecurity, and deals with companies including Microsoft and Oracle.

持有輝達股票的雪梨 Minotaur Capital 投資組合經理暨共同創辦人阿米娜・羅森伯格（Armina Rosenberg）認為，由於尋找永久接任者不會很快完成，董事會是否會選擇兼顧兩者。Armina Rosenberg, portfolio manager and co-founder at Minotaur Capital in Sydney, which owns Nvidia shares, wondered if the board would choose the best of both worlds, since finding a permanent replacement would not be quick.

她表示：「較實際的路線，是從任職多年的核心圈人士中選出臨時領導人，可能採取共同執行長架構：一名領導人穩住業務與財務，例如柯蕾特・克雷斯，另一名則是產品與技術領導人，例如伊恩・巴克。」"The more realistic route is an interim leader from the long-serving inner circle, possibly as a co-CEO structure: one leader to steady the business and the finances, such as Colette Kress, alongside a product and technology leader, such as Ian Buck," she said.

（安哈塔・魯普拉伊、姆林梅・戴伊、安庫爾・班納吉、彼得・韓德森、Echo Wang 與 Prathik Jayaprakash 報導；Sayantani Ghosh 與 Sonali Paul 編輯）(Reporting by Anhata Rooprai, Mrinmay Dey, Ankur Banerjee, Peter Henderson, Echo Wang, and Prathik Jayaprakash; Editing by Sayantani Ghosh and Sonali Paul)