Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang leapt into the top 10 of Forbes’ real-time billionaire rankings Monday, a first for the former Denny’s busboy and waiter turned perhaps the most recognisable name associated with the 2020s generative artificial intelligence boom.
Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang delivers a speech in Taipei in June, wearing his signature leather jacket.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Takeaways
- Huang’s net worth climbed $3.6 billion to $124.1 billion by market close, topping the fortune of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer ($122.5 billion net worth), who traded places with Huang to become the world’s 11th-richest person.
- The rise in Huang’s fortune came as shares of Nvidia rose 4.1% to a new all-time high of almost $144.
- Huang’s roughly 3.5% equity stake in Nvidia accounts for almost all of his net worth, as Huang’s slice of the $3.5 trillion Nvidia is worth $122.2 billion.
Key Background
Nvidia’s chief executive since the company’s inception in 1993, the 61-year-old Huang is by far the company’s largest individual shareholder even after selling $713 million worth of the stock this summer. A trio of current Nvidia board members associated with the company dating back to the early 1990s – Tench Coxe, Harvey Jones and Mark Stevens – are also billionaires.
Nvidia is the leading designer of the custom AI technology needed for high-end AI applications developed by other big technology firms like Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Tesla. The Santa Clara-based Nvidia has about an 80% share in the rapidly growing AI accelerator market, according to recent Bank of America research.
Well-known in video game circles for years, Nvidia’s graphics processing units became a hot commodity as they proved to be the leading currency for large-language models like the ones behind the viral OpenAI chatbot ChatGPT, leading Huang to declare demand is so “insane” for his company’s products that customers get “really emotional.”
Surprising Fact
Huang was worth just $20.6 billion as of 2022’s Forbes 400 list published two Septembers ago, meaning his wealth is up sixfold in two years time. The “insane” demand for Nvidia’s technology has translated into an explosion in Nvidia’s share price and financial performance, with its share price up more than 1,000% over the past two years and its current fiscal year profits are projected to increase 1,400% compared to the period ending Jan. 2023.
Tangent
Ballmer, whose fortune stems from his 34-year tenure at Microsoft, told Forbes last week he’s poured more than $100 million into his not-for-profit company USAFacts aimed at arming the public with accessible government data.
