Jensen Huang: Betting it all on AI, plus putting some NVIDIA chips into philanthropy

Early life

An immigrant to the US, Jensen Huang was born in Taiwan in 1963. His family first relocated to Thailand and then later to the United States when he was just nine years old. Huang grew up in Oregon, where he graduated from Aloha High School. During his teenage years, he worked as a dishwasher, busboy, and waiter at a Denny’s restaurant.

Pursuing higher education, he earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Oregon State University in 1984. During his time at Oregon State, he met Lori Mills, who happened to be his lab partner in an engineering course. After doing homework together on Sundays, the couple married in 1988.

In 1992, Jensen Huang went on to complete his Master’s in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. Today, Jensen and Lori Haung have two children together, Madison and Spencer. Madison Huang is the director of product and technical marketing for NVIDIA Omniverse, and their son Spencer Huang is one of the company’s product managers.

How NVIDIA happened

Jensen Huang’s first job after graduating with his bachelor’s was at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). He worked as a product engineer, focusing on designing and testing microchips. He specialised particularly in memory and microprocessors, which gave him early exposure and a head start in Silicon Valley’s semiconductor industry.

In 1993, in what seemed like a full circle moment, Huang found himself at a Denny’s restaurant with fellow engineers Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, devising how they could bring NVidia to life. The three co-founders had humble aspirations. When they incorporated NVIDIA (named from the Latin invidia, meaning “envy”), their mission was to improve PC gaming. However, all they could envision at the time was transforming the 2D Pac-Man features prevalent in the 90s to the 3D, fully immersive cinematic visuals we have today.

Fast-forward to the late 1990s, the company launched  RIVA 128 and GeForce GPUs, effectively coining the term GPUs and establishing itself as a leader in gaming graphics. Then in the 2000s, they introduced CUDA, a game changer. CUDA is what enabled NVIDIA GPUs to perform general-purpose computing. Essentially, breaking the company out of the gaming industry, NVIDIA could play in different fields,  eventually laying the foundations for the future of artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Today, the NVIDIA corporation has expanded its reach into the automotive industry, effectively enabling self-driving cars and trucks.

In addition, in 2006, the company significantly impacted the AI revolution, gifting the first AI supercomputer to Elon Musk to power the OpenAI platform, which we commonly refer to as ChatGPT. Now, the NVIDIA CEO has his sights set on physical AI, also known as robots. Where this is concerned, Haung predicts that in the next 10 years, everything we own will be powered by AI – from humanoid robots, self-driving cars, and autonomous lawnmowers.

AI optimism

Under Huang’s leadership, NVIDIA stock experienced a 2,000% surge in the last decade, with the AI Boom, placing his net worth at over $100 billion today.  However, Haung bets that this is just the beginning.  According to his calculations, he estimates that the humanoid robotics industry alone could be a $50 trillion opportunity. Having picked apart the old computers to build a new AI model, he reckons this new technology will bring about new industries.

As an AI optimist, Huang is convinced that AI will permeate our lives in every way possible. This might seem like a bold claim, but it’s worth noting that just a few decades ago, we didn’t have computers or cell phones, and now we find it nearly impossible to work or live without them. Huang explains that the journey of technological advancement has shifted dramatically. In contrast, we once had to enrol in computer classes to learn how to use a PC; interacting with AI now requires merely downloading an app. To encourage people to embrace AI, he suggests the straightforward approach of simply “using it.”

Trusts and partnerships

Compared to other billionaires, Huang lives a pretty modest lifestyle. There are no superyachts or trips to space attached to his name, but putting his money where his mouth is, a major part of his wealth is tied up in his significant NVIDIA shareholding. Huang owns around 859.39 million shares of NVIDIA, which represents about 3.5% of the company.

His wealth fluctuates based on the value of the company. However, as of today, it is estimated to be over $100 billion, considering NVIDIA’s market cap of $3 trillion. Out of these shares, he holds about 10% directly, while roughly 90% is held indirectly through trusts and partnerships.

Jensen Huang and his wife, Lori Huang, also founded the Jen-Hsun & Lori Huang Foundation in 2007 in Palo Alto, California. The foundation holds 69 million NVIDIA shares, which are valued at over $8 billion, ranking it as the 20th largest foundation in the US.

Philanthropic impact

The Jen-Hsun & Lori Huang Foundation operates independently, without additional board members or staff. It maintains a discreet presence, without a website or formal grant application process. The foundation’s philanthropic efforts go to higher education, STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), public health, and community support. The couple place particular importance on institutions relevant to their personal experiences and the San Francisco Bay Area. Notable donations include:

Oregon State University (OSU): In 2022, the Huangs donated $50 million to their alma mater, Oregon State University, to build the Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex. With this gift, the couple hopes to inspire future generations of students to fall in love with technology and its capacity to change the world.

Stanford University: Jensen Huang donated $30 million to Stanford University, where he got his master’s degree. This contribution was made to build the Jen-Hsun Huang Engineering Centre. Now the centre serves as a hub for problem-solving activities on campus and provides a space for students, influential thinkers, and industry collaborators from around the globe to come together.

Oneida Baptist Institute: In 2019, the foundation provided $2 million to the Oneida Baptist Institute in Kentucky, where Jensen attended as a young immigrant. The donation went to building the Jen-Hsun Huang Hall, a  girls’ dormitory and classroom building with a capacity for 128 students and 12 classrooms.

Reflecting on his personal journey, Huang tells 60 Minutes interviewer Bill Whitaker:

“It is the most extraordinary thing, Bill, that a normal dishwasher, bus boy could grow up to be this. There’s no magic, it’s just 61 years of hard work every single day. I don’t think there’s anything more than that.” – Jensen Huang, NVIDIA CEO.

The Simple take

At age 62, Jensen Huang is Silicon Valley’s most sought-after keynote speaker on all things AI. Dressed in his signature black leather jacket, the down-to-earth engineer sees artificial intelligence as a multi-trillion-dollar industry, with a vision for NVIDIA to establish itself as a comprehensive AI infrastructure provider. When he talks, his passion is palpable. His wealth is closely tied to NVIDIA, and even both of his kids work for the company. If all goes according to his plan over the next decade, his 3.5% stake in NVIDIA could propel him to become one of the richest individuals to walk the earth.