Nvidia Becomes a Global Market Leader Under Taiwanese-American CEO

Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang delivers a speech ahead of Computex 2024 in Taipei, Taiwon, on June 2, 2024. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

News Analysis

In June, U.S. semiconductor giant Nvidia briefly surpassed Microsoft and Apple in market value, becoming the world’s most valuable publicly traded firm. This landmark achievement also marks the first time a company led by a Taiwanese-American topped the U.S. market value rankings.

Nvidia’s market capitalization reached $3.34 trillion on the NASDAQ on June 18, eclipsing Microsoft, which is now valued at $3.32 trillion. Earlier last month, Nvidia hit $3 trillion for the first time, surpassing Apple.

This rapid ascent began last year when Nvidia became the first semiconductor firm to achieve a $1 trillion market cap.

At the helm of Nvidia is Taiwanese-American Jensen Huang, who has also pioneered advancements in the semiconductor industry.

Founded in 1993 by Mr. Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem, Nvidia specializes in GPU chips essential for artificial intelligence (AI) and computing advancements.

The pace of Nvidia’s growth is unprecedented among mega-cap tech companies. Its market value soared from $2 trillion to $3 trillion in just 96 days, a stark contrast to the 649 days it took Microsoft and 718 days for Apple to achieve the same feat, according to data from Investopedia.

Although Nvidia’s stock has declined since its peak, its market capitalization still exceeds $3 trillion as of June 28, maintaining its status as one of the world’s most valuable companies.

Jensen Huang: From Immigrant to Industry Titan

Born in 1963 in southern Taiwan, Mr. Huang moved to the United States when he was 9. He earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1992. The following year, at the age of 30, Mr. Huang co-founded Nvidia with $40,000.

Mr. Huang is worth $108.2 billion, making him the 13th wealthiest individual globally and the richest person of Chinese descent as of June 28, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires rankings.

His 3.5 percent stake in Nvidia is now worth over $90 billion, a substantial increase from $3 billion five years ago.

Nvidia’s GPU chips have become indispensable in the global push for advancements in AI and computing, leading to robust market prospects. On June 7, Nvidia implemented a 10:1 stock split to make its shares more accessible to individual investors.

Taiwan Ties

In a speech at the National Taiwan University Sports Center on June 2, Mr. Huang praised Taiwan as an “unsung hero, a steadfast pillar of the world.” He acknowledged the country’s contribution to Nvidia’s success, aided by its longstanding cooperation with Taiwanese manufacturers.

Mr. Huang’s relationship with Taiwan dates back to the inception of his company. When faced with financial pressures, he contacted Morris Chang, founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, to discuss manufacturing Nvidia’s first chip. This interaction sparked a 30-year partnership, foundational to every generation of Nvidia’s products, with Mr. Chang becoming a key partner and a close friend.

Micro-Star International, another integral part of Nvidia’s supply chain, has also thrived alongside Nvidia, becoming one of the world’s leading server manufacturers. Its stock price has soared by 587 percent over the past year. During a speech at COMPUTEX on June 5, Joseph Hsu, founder and CEO of Micro-Star, highlighted the company’s green computing initiatives, with Mr. Huang making a guest appearance to support their efforts.

Mr. Huang and Mr. Hsu, who was also born in Taiwan, have shared over 30 years of collaboration and friendship. Both started their businesses in Silicon Valley around the same time. Micro-Star was the first to market Mr. Huang’s initial AI machine.

Nvidia’s influence extends beyond business relations, impacting educational pursuits within Taiwan. Following the country’s AI boom, spearheaded by Nvidia’s chips, there has been an increase in enrollment in science and engineering programs at Taiwanese universities, such as National Taiwan University and National Cheng Kung University.

Taiwanese manufacturing giant Foxconn recently announced a partnership with Nvidia to establish an advanced computing center in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, centered around Nvidia’s GB200 server superchip.

Lessons on Resilience, Humility

At a commencement ceremony at Caltech on June 14, Mr. Huang shared his insights with the students, emphasizing resilience over intelligence.

“My ability to endure pain and suffering, my ability to work on something for a very, very long period of time, my ability to handle setbacks and see the opportunities just around the corner, I consider to be my superpowers. And I hope they’re yours,” he said.

This message of overcoming adversity has been a recurring theme in Mr. Huang’s talks. In March, he returned to Stanford University, his alma mater, to speak on the importance of enduring hardship and cultivating resilience by managing expectations.

“I wish you ample doses of pain and suffering” is the unconventional message Mr. Huang told Standford students.

A critical moment in Nvidia’s history highlights Mr. Huang’s philosophy. In 1995, a flawed chip design in collaboration with Sega, a Japanese multinational video game company, almost bankrupted Nvidia. Mr. Huang dealt with the errors but asked for continued support, which Sega granted. This led to the development of the RIVA 128 graphics card (NV3) in 1997, a milestone that paved the way for Nvidia’s successful initial public offering in 1999.

“Confronting our mistake and, with humility, asking for help saved NVIDIA,” he said during a commencement speech at National Taiwan University in May 2023.