Jensen Huang (黃仁勳)
Jensen Huang (黃仁勳, born February 17, 1963) is a Taiwanese American business executive and engineer who co-founded NVIDIA Corporation in 1993 and has served as its CEO and President. Under his leadership, NVIDIA became one of the world’s most valuable companies, particularly due to its dominance in artificial intelligence hardware.
Early Life and Education
Huang was born in Taipei, Taiwan. He immigrated to the United States with his family in 1975, settling in Portland, Oregon, when he was 12 years old.
He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Oregon State University and his Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Career
Early Career
Before co-founding NVIDIA, Huang worked at:
- Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) — As a design director
- Lsi Logic — As a designer and manager
Co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA (1993-present)
Huang co-founded NVIDIA in April 1993 with Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem. The company was initially focused on developing graphics processing units (GPUs) for the gaming market.
Key milestones under Huang’s leadership:
- 1999 — Launched the GeForce brand, establishing NVIDIA as a leader in 3D graphics
- 2006 — Introduced CUDA, a parallel computing platform that transformed GPUs into general-purpose computing devices
- 2012 — NVIDIA’s GPUs were used to train deep learning models, marking the company’s pivot to AI
- 2016 — Launched the Tesla V100 GPU, specifically designed for AI workloads
- 2020s — NVIDIA became the dominant supplier of AI chips, powering the global artificial intelligence boom
Under Huang’s leadership, NVIDIA’s market capitalization grew from under 3 trillion in 2025, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world.
Recognition
Huang has received numerous awards and recognitions:
- Named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People
- Received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation (2023)
- Frequently recognized as one of the most powerful people in technology
Taiwanese American Identity
Huang’s Taiwanese heritage has been a point of pride and connection. He maintains strong ties to Taiwan:
- Regularly visits Taiwan for business and personal reasons
- Has spoken about the influence of his Taiwanese upbringing and parents on his work ethic and leadership style
- In 2023, he visited Taiwan’s National Taiwan University and gave a keynote address
- His mother, a Taiwanese artist, has accompanied him to public appearances
Huang has become an icon for Taiwanese Americans and has been celebrated in Taiwan as well. His success has been credited with increasing visibility for Taiwanese Americans in the technology industry.