Jensen Huang: Co-Founder, President & CEO of NVIDIA

Jensen Huang is a Taiwanese-American business executive and entrepreneur known for co-founding NVIDIA Corporation, a leading technology company specializing in graphics processing units (GPUs) and artificial intelligence (AI). Almost 30 years ago, Jensen Huang co-founded graphics-chip maker NVIDIA along with his two friends, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem.

Recently, his net worth rose by $7 billion, making his real-time net worth $35.4 billion as of June 1st, 2023. This makes him the 37th richest person in the world.

Jensen Huang is currently serving as the President and CEO of NVIDIA Corporation. He owns about 3.6% or 86.9 million shares of the company. NVIDIA is a platform for computing that operates at the intersection of graphics, HPC, and AI. As per recent reports, the company temporarily joined the exclusive club of $1 trillion companies, joining the likes of Apple, Google, and Microsoft. NVIDIA has its headquarters in Santa Clara, California with more than 10,000 employees, with its offices located in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Today, NVIDIA is making headlines for hitting a market value of $1 trillion. It is all because of Jensen Huang's dedication, a story of humility, perseverance, and focus that has led the company to where it is today.

Jensen Huang - Biography

Jensen Huang - Early Life
Jensen Huang - Career and Education
Jensen Huang - Personal Life
Jensen Huang - Founding of NVIDIA
Jensen Huang - Investments/Philanthropic Initiatives
Jensen Huang - Awards and Recognitions
Jensen Huang - Unknown Facts
Jensen Huang - Top Quotes

Jensen Huang - Early Life

The motherland of Jensen Huang is Taiwan's Tainan. As a child, he did not have a very enjoyable life. He spent half of his childhood in Taiwan and Thailand. Shortly after, when he was nine years old, his family immigrated to the US. After a brief stay in Oneida, Kentucky, they eventually moved to Oregon, where he attended Aloha High School just outside of Portland.

In an interview, Huang had mentioned, that his aunt and uncle, who had only recently immigrated to Washington state, sent Jensen and his brother inadvertently to Oneida Baptist Institute in Kentucky, which was regarded as a reform school rather than a prep school.

As a kid, Jensen had to go through a lot. At his school, he used to clean toilets in the dorm. However, Huang says, it taught him to always do his best in everything. At the age of 15, Jensen Huang finished third in the junior doubles division of the U.S. Open Table Tennis Championship.

Jensen Huang - Career and Education

Huang showed an early interest in technology and engineering, which led him to pursue a degree in electrical engineering.

Huang attended Oregon State University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1984. He later pursued a master's degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

He worked as an executive at LSI Logic and a microprocessor designer at Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) after graduating from college. Huang co-founded NVIDIA in 1993 at the age of 30.

Jensen Huang - Personal Life

Jensen Huang is known for being a private individual when it comes to his personal life. However, it is known, he met his future wife Lori Mills, who used to be his lab partner in his college freshman year. The couple has two children.

Huang is a well-known figure in the technology sector, so his interviews and public appearances tend to be more about his work and the advancements of NVIDIA than about his personal life. He is known to keep a low-key and reserved demeanor, concentrating on his duties as NVIDIA's CEO and the company's influence on the technology industry.

Jensen Huang - Founding of NVIDIA

In 1993, Huang, along with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, co-founded NVIDIA Corporation. The company initially focused on producing graphics chips for gaming and multimedia applications. Huang is serving as the company's president and CEO from its inception. Under his leadership, the company grew to become a dominant player in the computer graphics industry. The company's GPUs became widely used in gaming, professional visualization, data centers, and AI applications.

Throughout his career, Jensen Huang has been known for his passion for technological innovation. Through his devotion, NVIDIA has consistently introduced groundbreaking products and technologies. Notable innovations include the development of the GeForce graphics cards, the CUDA parallel computing platform, and the invention of the GPU-based deep learning framework known as "cuDNN."

In addition, Huang has also fostered collaborations and partnerships with various industry leaders, including companies like Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Microsoft, to integrate NVIDIA's technology into their products and services. These partnerships have helped drive advancements in autonomous vehicles, robotics, healthcare, and other industries.

Nvidia - Changing the World with AI and Graphics

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Jensen Huang - Investments/Philanthropic Initiatives

Jensen Huang has been involved in various philanthropic initiatives, including supporting education, research, and technology advancements.

He has donated $30 million to Stanford University, his alma mater, to construct the new Jen-Hsun Huang School of Engineering Center. The structure is the second of Stanford's Science and Engineering Quad's four structures. It was created by Portland, Oregon's Bora Architects, and it was finished in 2010. He has also donated $2 million to his alma mater Oneida Baptist Institute for the construction of Huang Hall, a new girls' dormitory and classroom building.

In addition, Huang gave his other former university, Oregon State University, $50 million in 2022 as part of a $200 million gift for the establishment of a supercomputing institute on campus.

Furthermore, Jensen Huang has played a significant role in the establishment and management of NVIDIA Ventures, the venture capital arm of NVIDIA. NVIDIA Ventures focuses on investing in startups and companies that are aligned with NVIDIA's strategic interests, including AI, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and more. The fund has invested in numerous promising companies, helping to foster innovation and drive industry advancements. Through NVIDIA, Jensen and his team have done over 43 investments. One of their recent investments was Ayar Labs on May 24, 2023, when they raised $25 million in funds.

Jensen Huang - Awards and Recognitions

Jensen Huang continues to lead NVIDIA as its CEO, driving the company's growth and innovation in the fields of AI, graphics, and computing. His vision and dedication have played a pivotal role in shaping the modern technology landscape and establishing NVIDIA as a global leader in its industry. Having said that, Jensen Huang has received many prestigious awards in his life. Below is the list of awards won by him:

• Entrepreneur of the Year (1999) - The award was conferred by Ernst & Young for recognizing Jensen Huang's entrepreneurial journey and achievements
• Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award (2003) -Awarded by the Fabless Semiconductor Association in recognition of Jensen Huang's leadership in advancing the growth, innovation, and long-term prospects of the fabless semiconductor industry
• Daniel J. Epstein Engineering Management Award - Awarded by the University of Southern California. He is also a recipient of an honorary doctorate from Oregon State University in 2009
• Listed in World's Top 50 Influencers (2018) - Jensen Huang was recognized in edge computing by the Edge 50
• Best-performing CEO (2019) - Recognised by the Harvard Business Review, highlighting Huang's leadership qualities
• 100 most influential people in the world (2021) - Recognised by Time in their Time 100 annual list of 100 most influential people in the world
• Robert N. Noyce Award (2021) - Granted by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), recognizing Jensen Huang's achievements in the semiconductor industry
• Supplier CEO of the Year (2020) - Awarded by the Eurostars AutomotiveNewsEurope, acknowledging Huang's impressive contributions to the automotive and semiconductor industry

Jensen Huang - Unknown Facts

While serving as the president and CEO of NVIDIA, Jensen Huang has more to his personality with some fascinating facts. Here are some lesser-known facts:

• After Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Jensen Huang is the only other US CEO to surpass the trillion-dollar valuation threshold for a business they co-founded. NVIDIA only did so for a brief period, but it might do so again in the future.
• Jensen Huang plays to play computer games, which is the main reason behind co-founding NVIDIA. Huang along with his two friends, wanted to improve the graphics of the PCs to enhance the gaming experience.
• Jensen Huang co-founded NVIDIA on his 30th birthday.
• Jensen Huang has a deep love for leather jackets. He is often seen wearing leather jackets, which have become somewhat of a trademark for him. He is known for his casual and approachable attire, often choosing leather jackets even at formal events.
• Huang is an advocate for sustainable transportation and has a keen interest in electric cars. He has been an early adopter and supporter of electric vehicles, owning several electric cars himself.
• Huang has a strong passion for visual arts. He has an appreciation for architecture, design, and aesthetics, which has influenced the design philosophy of NVIDIA's products.

Jensen Huang - Top Quotes

Here are some of the top statements spoken by Jensen Huang during his various keynote speeches:

• "The age of AI is in full throttle"
• "This is an amazing time for the computer industry and the world, as the mobile cloud matures, the age of AI is beginning."
• "Software is eating the world, but AI is going to eat software."
• "People are going to use more and more AI. Acceleration is going to be the path forward for computing. These fundamental trends, I completely believe in them."
• "Someday trillions of AI devices and machines will populate the earth in homes, office buildings, warehouses, stores, farms, factories, and hospitals. In fact, the building themselves will be AIs with AIs moving about them. These AI will sense, infer, and act accordingly at the location."

Conclusion

Jensen Huang Co-founded NVIDIA at the age of 30. Despite having a difficult childhood, his vision and dedication have played a pivotal role in shaping the modern technology landscape and establishing NVIDIA as a global leader in its industry. He is also a philanthropist, and his foundation has donated millions of dollars to education initiatives.

FAQs

Who is Jensen Huang?

Jensen Huang is a Taiwanese-American business executive and entrepreneur known for co-founding NVIDIA Corporation, a leading technology company specializing in graphics processing units (GPUs) and artificial intelligence (AI).

When was NVIDIA founded?

Jensen Huang along with his other co-founders, founded NVIDIA in 1993.