Jensen Huang

Jensen Huang, a businessman and electrical engineer, founded NVIDIA in 1993 and has served since its inception as president, chief executive officer, and member of the board of directors. He is also the co-founder of the company. Huang's leadership in the technology industry has contributed significantly to Nvidia's growth and innovation, particularly in the fields of graphics processing units (GPUs) and artificial intelligence (AI).

Starting out in PC graphics, NVIDIA helped build the gaming market into the largest entertainment industry in the world today. Its invention of the GPU in 1999 made possible real-time programmable shading, which defined modern computer graphics and later revolutionized parallel computing. More recently, the GPU deep learning ignited modern AI — the next era of computing — with the GPU acting as the brain of computers, robots, and self-driving cars that can perceive and understand the world. As of March 2024, Huang's net worth was estimated by Forbes at $81.7 billion, making him the 17th richest person in the world.

Throughout his career, Huang has received numerous recognitions and awards, such as the Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award from the Global Semiconductor Association, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in High Technology in 1999, and the Daniel J. Epstein Engineering Management Award from the University of Southern California. His contributions and leadership in the industry also earned him the title of the best-performing CEO in the world by Harvard Business Review in October 2019. Furthermore, he has been included twice on the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people in 2021 and 2024.

Huang has made significant donations to educational establishments, including $50 million to his alma mater, Oregon State University, for the creation of a supercomputing institute and $30 million to Stanford University for the Jen-Hsun Huang School of Engineering Center. In February 2024, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his work in high-powered graphics processing units. Huang's commitment to education is also reflected in his own background, as he holds a BSEE degree from Oregon State University and an MSEE degree from Stanford University.

Prior to founding NVIDIA, Huang worked at LSI Logic and Advanced Micro Devices. His influence in the technology industry extends to his family, with his son, Spencer Huang, launching a bar in Taipei and later becoming a product manager at Nvidia.