Nvidia just lost one of its longest-serving board members. Persis Drell, a Stanford engineering professor who joined the chipmaker's board in 2015, resigned Wednesday to pursue what the company calls a "new professional opportunity." She walks away with nearly 143,000 shares worth roughly $26 million - a windfall built during Nvidia's historic 22,000% stock surge since she joined. The timing raises eyebrows as Nvidia navigates heightened scrutiny over AI chip exports and competitive pressure from Chinese startups finding workarounds to U.S. restrictions.
Nvidia disclosed Persis Drell's resignation in an SEC filing late Friday, marking the end of a decade-long tenure that coincided with the company's transformation from graphics chip maker to AI infrastructure kingpin. The announcement came with the standard corporate language - she's leaving for a "new professional opportunity" with no disagreements over operations or policies - but the numbers tell a more compelling story.
Drell joined Nvidia's board in late 2015 when the stock traded around $5 per share (split-adjusted). Today it hovers near $185, delivering that eye-watering 22,000% return that's made early board members exceptionally wealthy. Her compensation package last year totaled $344,000, with nearly $259,000 coming in stock awards according to Nvidia's annual report. She also sold roughly 40,000 shares during 2025, likely for tax purposes or portfolio diversification as her Nvidia holdings ballooned.
The 69-year-old physicist brought serious technical credibility to Nvidia's governance. She's been at Stanford since 2002, rising from professor to dean of the engineering school (2014-2017) and then provost (2017-2023). Before that she ran SLAC, Stanford's particle accelerator lab, from 2007 to 2012. Her background in high-performance computing and complex systems gave her unique insight into the computational challenges Nvidia's chips aim to solve.
