Nvidia board member Persis Drell steps down after a decade, departing with $26 million in stock — marking a notable leadership change at the world’s most valuable chipmaker.
Nvidia confirmed that Persis Drell, a longtime board director and respected engineering professor at Stanford University, has resigned after serving for just over ten years. The company disclosed the move in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, noting that Drell officially stepped down on Wednesday.
According to Nvidia, the 70-year-old director chose to leave in order to pursue a “new professional opportunity.” The company emphasized that her departure was not related to any disagreements with Nvidia’s leadership, operations, or corporate policies.
Drell, who served on Nvidia’s compensation committee, becomes the first board member to exit since former astronaut Ellen Ochoa resigned in June. Following Drell’s departure, Nvidia’s board now consists of 10 directors, including co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang.
Financial disclosures show that Drell holds nearly 143,000 shares of Nvidia stock, currently valued at around $26 million. During the previous year, she earned approximately $344,000 for her board service, which included nearly $259,000 in stock-based compensation, according to Nvidia’s annual report. She also sold about 40,000 shares in 2024.
Drell’s tenure coincided with one of the most extraordinary growth periods in corporate history. Since the end of 2015, Nvidia’s stock price has surged more than 22,000%, propelled by the explosive demand for artificial intelligence chips and data center technology.
Beyond Nvidia, Drell has had a distinguished academic career at Stanford University, where she has been a professor since 2002. She served as dean of Stanford’s School of Engineering from 2014 to 2017 and later held the role of provost from 2017 to 2023. Earlier in her career, she was also the director of SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford’s renowned particle accelerator, from 2007 to 2012.
While Nvidia continues to ride the momentum of the AI boom, Drell’s exit marks the end of a significant chapter in the company’s board leadership — one shaped during a decade of unprecedented growth and transformation.