NVIDIA

Gamers know that NVIDIA powers great gaming experiences. Researchers know that

NVIDIA accelerates world-changing breakthroughs. Enterprises know NVIDIA for AI

(artificial intelligence) engines transforming their industries. NVIDIA employees know the

company as one of the best places to work in the world. More people than ever have a piece of

NVIDIA. Roboticists, visual artists, data scientists, all types of innovators, and creators rely on

the company’s technology. That’s only natural: NVIDIA is the largest start-up in the world,

growing from 10,000 to 25,000 employees a few years ago (Caulfield).

Jen-Hsun (Jensen) Huang

Huang founded NVIDIA in 1993 and has served as President, Chief Executive Officer

and a member of the Board of Directors since the company’s inception. The company’s first

product proved to be a flop, but that did not stop the team. In 1999, they introduced the

successful GeForce 256 graphics processor, which became the basis for a whole line of GPUs

(Graphics Processing Unit)1.

Since the success of the first GPU, Huang never stops to develop his company. He

focuses to partner with other semiconductor companies such as TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor

Manufacturing Company), and SGS-Thompson Microelectronics. Based on these strategic

partnerships, Huang focuses on research and development for developing new technology

mainly for GPUs. Under his leadership, the company grew despite occasional setbacks. At the

height of the economic downturn in 2008, he famously reduced his own salary to one dollar.

The company survived and prospered through acquisitions and expansion (Lennox).

1
GPU (graphics processing unit) is a computer chip that renders graphics and images by performing
rapid mathematical calculations. GPUs are used for both professional and personal computing. Traditionally,
GPUs are responsible for the rendering of 2D and 3D images, animations, and video, even though, now, they
have a wider use range (Gillis).
 Jen-Hsun Huang is one of the most interesting CEOs today. His leadership style is often

overlooked in favour of more high-profile CEOs like Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Tony Hsieh

(Zappos). Huang’s leadership style is more about personal authenticity and intellectual honesty.

He does not adhere to the traditional mode of “acting like a CEO”. He displays a humility that

is brilliant in its self-awareness. Huang’s leadership style is governed by two basic principles:

intellectual honesty and risk-taking.

The leadership style of Jen-Hsun Huang was built on the early near-failure of NVIDIA.

He and his partners had raised the capital, hired the team, and developed the product. Yet, the

product they had worked so hard to develop and believed in, did not work. Other leaders in that

position might have been overwhelmed by such setback, however, Huang was not discouraged.

He relates that, in his opinion, the true culture and core values of a company are not created in

times of success, but in times of adversity. This is mainly because when a company has a great

idea, you do not give up on that idea. You nurture it, adapt to it, and fail again and rise again.

In addition to that, Huang can see the potential of AI (artificial intelligence). His

imaginative and prescient of AI destiny commenced together along with his willpower to create

the “brain” for completely self-sustaining vehicles. He built relationships with a number of the

giant automotive businesses around the world namely Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Land

Rover and Toyota. But his goals surpassed as he desires to convey AI to “the entirety with an

on-switch”. Huang believes that developing a virtual reproduction of the planet will offer

simulation abilities for industry, town planning, and self-sufficient machine--an exercise floor

for robots and human beings which, he believes, will improve human life around the world.

Early Life

Jen-Hsun Huang was born in a small coastal town, Tainan in Taiwan on February 17th,

1963. His family then moved to Thailand while he is still young. However, with the Vietnam
War raging on right next door, this was not the most peaceful time for those living in South-

East Asia. Concerns over the rising violence from the ongoing war led Huang’s parents to make

a difficult decision: Keep Huang and his brother in Thailand and risk their safety or to help

them migrate to the United States in hopes of securing them a safer childhood and a more

promising future. Ultimately, Huang’s parents chose the latter. He and his brother were sent to

the U.S when Huang was just nine years old, first landing in Oneida, Kentucky. Their life in

Kentucky was short-lived. Huang and his brother were moved again, this time to Oregon. This

was a much better fit for the two Huang boys, it seemed. In recent years, Huang has recalled

his struggles to fit in among his peers. He has also spoke openly about attending a special

school for so-called “difficult” students, where he was often made to clean toilets.

Education

As Huang grew older, he emerged from these rocky years victoriously, attending Aloha

High School just outside of Portland for Grade 9 through 12, then joined Oregon State

University for his undergrad. After graduating with a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering, he

kept his educational momentum going and enrolled for a master’s program at Stanford

University. Again, pursuing electrical engineering, he graduated from Stanford with a master’s

degree in 1992. Just shy of 30 years old, Huang was now on the brink of the immense success

that defines him today.

Career

Now a recipient of a master’s degree in electrical engineering, Jensen Huang had

nowhere to go but up. It is remarkable to think of the journey he had taken. From Taiwan to

Thailand to Kentucky to Oregon, escaping political and social unrest in South-East Asia and

overcoming adversity in America to pursue higher education in a burgeoning field. It did not

stop with the master’s degree, however. Huang still had whole career ahead of him.
 It began at AMD (Advanced Micro Devices). While little is known about Huang’s time

at AMD, this period in his journey towards becoming the president and CEO of NVIDIA is

nevertheless worth mentioning. Huang worked at AMD between the years of 1984 and 1985,

tasked with the designing and engineering of microprocessors2. While he was not there long, it

is undoubtedly a notable step.

After a stint at AMD, Jensen Huang moved on to LSI Logic, a semiconductor design

and software engineering company that works to boost storage and network speeds across

mobile networks, data centers, and professional computing alike. Huang arrived in 1985, when

the company was just four years old. However, it was nothing short of exceptional, even for its

age. Having just gone public two years prior, LSI Logic set a record for the largest IPO in

history thus far at $153 million. Beginning in 1985 and culminating in 1993, the same year

Huang founded NVIDIA, he held positions in the company’s engineering division, marketing

department, and even the general management team. The same year Sony picked LSI to fit the

PlayStation CPU on a single chip, Huang left to carve his own path.

Personal Life

Jensen Huang and his eventual wife met in a lab. Paired up as partners in an engineering

lab at Oregon State University, Huang and Lori were an instant match made in computer

heaven. Together, the two started Jen-Hsun & Lori Huang Foundation. The charity exists to

support public health, STEM, and higher education throughout the country. Since their

wedding in the late 1990s, Huang and Lori have had two children. Their first, Spencer, and

2
Microprocessor is the part of a computer where all data processing power and logic are contained
within integrated circuits. These microprocessors are what allow a computer’s CPU (central processing unit) to
function (Williams).
their second, Madison, bring their family unit to a total of four. As with much of Huang and

his family’s personal lives, the children’s ages are unknown.

Awards and Recognitions

Huang is a recipient of the IEEE Founder’s Medal; the Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary

Leadership Award; and honorary doctorate degrees from Taiwan’s National Chiao Tung

University, National Taiwan University, and Oregon State University. In 2019, Harvard

Business Review ranked him No.1 on its list of the world’s 100 best-performing CEOs over

the lifetime of their tenure. In 2017, he was named Fortune’s Businessperson of the Year. He

also received a distinguished life-time achievement award from the Asian American Engineer

of the Year from the Chinese Institute of Engineers (CIE) group (Takahashi).

References

Caulfield, Brian. NVIDIA. 1 June., 2022. Web. 10 Nov., 2022.

<https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2022/06/01/nvidia-story/>.

Frankenfield, Jake. Investopedia. 7 Sep., 2021. Web. 16 11, 2022.

<https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/graphics-processing-unit-gpu.asp>.

Gillis, Alexander S. Techtarget. n.d. 10 Nov., 2022.

Lennox, Tony. cfi.co. 2 Aug., 2022. Web. 10 Nov., 2022.

<https://cfi.co/technology/2022/08/jensen-huang-nvidia-ceo-vision-ai-future/>.

Ng, Andrew. Time.com. 15 Sep, 2021. Web. 24 11, 2022.

Takahashi, Dean. Venturebeat. 15 Sep., 2021. Web. 10 Nov., 2022.

Williams, Nate. History Computer. 14 Oct., 2022. Web. 10 Nov., 2022.