# Jensen Huang

> Jensen Huang is the co-founder, President, and CEO of NVIDIA, the company he has led since 1993 to become the world's most valuable semiconductor company and the first to surpass a $5 trillion market cap. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Huang immigrated to the US at age nine, washed dishes at Denny's as a teenager, and built NVIDIA from a diner booth into the engine powering the global AI revolution. His invention of the GPU and the CUDA parallel computing platform laid the foundation for modern deep learning, and his relentless long-term vision has made him one of the most influential technologists of his generation.

- **Role:** President and CEO at NVIDIA
- **Organizations:** NVIDIA Corporation
- **From:** Taipei, Taiwan
- **Nationality:** Taiwanese-American
- **Education:** B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Oregon State University, M.S. in Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Honorary Doctorate, Oregon State University, Honorary Doctorate, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
- **Known for:** Co-founded NVIDIA in 1993 and served as President and CEO for 32+ consecutive years, Invented the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) - coined the term in 1999 with the GeForce 256, Created CUDA in 2006 - the parallel computing platform that became the foundation of modern deep learning

## Career timeline

- **1963** — Born in Taipei, Taiwan on February 17
- **~1972** — Family relocates to Thailand
- **~1973** — Sent to Oneida Baptist Institute (reform school), rural Kentucky, with his older brother
- **~1975** — Family reunites in Portland suburb (Aloha, Oregon)
- **~1978** — Begins working at Denny's as dishwasher, busboy, and waiter
- **~1984** — Graduates from Oregon State University with BSEE; joins AMD
- **1985** — Joins LSI Logic as an engineer
- **1992** — Earns M.S. from Stanford while working full-time at LSI Logic
- **1993** — Co-founds NVIDIA with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem at a Denny's in East San Jose
- **1999** — NVIDIA goes public on NASDAQ; launches GeForce 256 - the world's first GPU
- **2006** — Launches CUDA - the parallel computing platform that will underpin modern AI
- **2009** — Receives honorary doctorate from Oregon State University
- **2014** — Gets NVIDIA logo tattooed on his arm celebrating NVDA stock crossing $100
- **2018** — Coins 'Huang's Law' at GTC - GPUs improve performance faster than Moore's Law
- **2021** — Named to TIME 100 Most Influential People; receives Robert N. Noyce Award
- **2022** — Donates $50M to Oregon State University for AI and robotics research
- **2024** — NVIDIA briefly becomes world's most valuable company; receives Engineering Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award
- **2025** — NVIDIA becomes first company in history to surpass $5 trillion market cap
- **2026** — Receives IEEE Medal of Honor - the IEEE's highest individual honor; appointed to PCAST

## Achievements

- Co-founded NVIDIA in 1993 and served as President and CEO for 32+ consecutive years
- Invented the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) - coined the term in 1999 with the GeForce 256
- Created CUDA in 2006 - the parallel computing platform that became the foundation of modern deep learning
- Led NVIDIA to become the first company in history to surpass a $5 trillion market cap (2025)
- Named 'Huang's Law' - describes GPU performance improvements surpassing Moore's Law
- TIME 100 Most Influential People (2021 and 2024)
- Received the Robert N. Noyce Award from the Semiconductor Industry Association (2021)
- 2026 IEEE Medal of Honor - IEEE's highest individual honor
- The Jen-Hsun & Lori Huang Foundation holds $12B+ in assets, seeded with $300M in NVIDIA stock
- Named to Forbes Billionaires list with net worth exceeding $180 billion (2026)
- Ranked #2 on Fortune's inaugural 100 Most Powerful People in Business (2024)
- Elected to the National Academy of Engineering (2024)

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Publicly stated China chip export bans have 'largely backfired,' with NVIDIA holding 0% market share in China. Called out CEOs with a 'God complex' for catastrophizing AI job loss.
- **2026-04** — Received 2026 IEEE Medal of Honor (IEEE's highest individual honor, includes $2M prize). Appointed to President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). Received imec Lifetime of Innovation Award.
- **2026-03** — GTC 2026 conference in San Jose: major keynote on AI factories, agentic AI, and physical AI with Rubin GPU architecture announcement.
- **2026-01** — CES 2026: unveiled NVIDIA's AI roadmap including Rubin GPUs (5x inference over Blackwell), Alpamayo vision-language-action models for autonomous vehicles, and quantum AI model 'Ising'. Keynoted at World Economic Forum in Davos.
- **2025-10** — NVIDIA became the first company in history to surpass a $5 trillion market cap.
- **2025-07** — Net worth surged past $179B as NVIDIA approached $4 trillion valuation.
- **2024-12** — Named among TIME's 'Architects of AI' for Person of the Year consideration. NVIDIA briefly became world's most valuable company.

## Links

- Website: https://nvidia.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenhsunhuang/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/jensenhuang

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jensen-huang
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Last updated: 2026-05-04