Nvidia CEO Huang becomes 13th-richest person

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (61), driving the growth of global artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors, has become the 13th richest person in the world. This was driven by the increase in Nvidia stock prices of which Huang, who holds a 3.5% stake (approximately 86.76 million shares), with Nvidia's market capitalization exceeding trillion dollars on the U.S. Nasdaq market on Wednesday (local time). Some predict that he will join the world's richest top 10.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, as of May, the Taiwanese American entrepreneur’s assets amounted to 106.1 billion U.S. dollars, up by 62.2 billion dollars this year alone. The pace of asset growth is faster than that of any other billionaire.

The growth was attributable to Nvidia's stock price rising 147% this year, hitting record highs every day. In June last year, Nvidia's stock price exceeded 1 trillion dollars in market capitalization, and in February this year, it exceeded 2 trillion dollars. As of June 5, the market cap exceeded 3 trillion dollars. The company’s gap with Microsoft (MS), the largest company in market capitalization, is only about 130 billion dollars.

It is predicted that Huang will join the list of the richest top 10 in the world soon. The gap with Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett (135.8 billion USD), who ranks 10th, is only 29.7 billion dollars.

Huang, who recently referred to Taiwan as a ‘nation,’ is hugely popular among Taiwanese despite the country’s situation facing escalating military threats from China. Born in Taiwan, Huang emigrated to the United States in 1973 when he was 10 years old.

A term called ‘Jensanity’ was coined, combining his name, ‘Jensen,’ with the English word ‘insanity.’ Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg praised Huang as “the Taylor Swift of the technology world.”


이기욱기자 71wook@donga.com