Nvidia announced Friday that board director Persis Drell resigned from her position effective Wednesday. The departure marks the second board exit in recent months for the chipmaker.
Drell, 70, stepped down to pursue a new professional opportunity according to an SEC filing. The company stated her resignation was not related to any disagreement with Nvidia’s operations, policies, or practices.
The Stanford engineering professor had served on Nvidia’s board for just over 10 years. During her tenure, she was a member of the compensation committee which oversees executive pay and related matters.
Drell’s departure follows former astronaut Ellen Ochoa’s resignation in June. The board now consists of 10 directors including CEO Jensen Huang.
According to the latest holdings report, Drell owns close to 143,000 Nvidia shares. At current valuations, her stake is worth approximately $26 million.
Last year, Drell received about $344,000 in compensation for her board work. This included nearly $259,000 in stock awards according to the company’s annual report.
Drell sold roughly 40,000 shares during the past year. The timing of these sales coincided with Nvidia’s continued stock price surge driven by artificial intelligence demand.
Nvidia’s stock has climbed over 22,000% since the end of 2015. The company emerged as the world’s most valuable company during this period.
The AI boom propelled demand for Nvidia’s graphics processing units. Data centers and tech companies scrambled to secure chips for training large language models and other AI applications.
Drell has taught at Stanford since 2002. She served as dean of the engineering school from 2014 to 2017.
From 2017 to 2023, she held the position of Stanford’s provost. Prior to her dean role, she directed Stanford’s particle accelerator facility known as SLAC from 2007 to 2012.
Her academic expertise lies in engineering and physics. This background aligned with Nvidia’s focus on advanced semiconductor technology and computing systems.
The company has not announced plans to fill Drell’s vacant board seat. No replacement timeline was provided in the SEC filing.
Drell’s effective resignation date was January 22, 2026. She also stepped down from her compensation committee role on the same day.
The post Nvidia (NVDA) Stock: Director Walks Away With $26 Million After 10 Years on Board appeared first on CoinCentral.
Also read: ZKP Gains Attention as BNB and TRUMP Show Mixed Momentum
