Jensen Huang
American business executive; cofounder, president and chief executive of Nvidia
| Jensen Huang
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 2 1963 (age 63 years old (as of 2026)
) Taiwan |
| Occupation | business executive |
| Known for | Cofounder, president and CEO of Nvidia |
| Education | Oregon State University; Stanford University |
Jensen Huang (born 17 February 1963) is an American business executive, cofounder, president and chief executive of Nvidia.[1] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Huang seventh in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$188.1 billion; Forbes gives the source of wealth as Nvidia.[2] The Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as reported by Investopedia, put the figure at US$189 billion on 1 October 2026.[3]
Background
Born 17 February 1963 in Taiwan; moved to the United States as a child; United States citizen.[1]
Education
Oregon State University (bachelor’s in engineering); Stanford University (master’s in engineering).[1]
Career and companies
Cofounded Nvidia in 1993 and has been CEO and president since; took it public in 1999.[1]
In its 2026 Forbes 400 profile text, Forbes stated: "Huang also worked as a waiter at Denny's, which he says helped him overcome his shyness."[1]
How the wealth was made
About 4% of Nvidia, whose market value passed $5 trillion in 2025 on demand for its AI chips.[1]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this person in its annual World's Billionaires list in 10 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2017. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list, and, where applicable, the rank and estimate in the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans.[4][1]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) | Forbes 400 rank | Forbes 400 net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | – | – | 395 | 1.7 |
| 2017 | 745 | 2.7 | 156 | 4.4 |
| 2018 | 321 | 5.6 | 79 | 6.6 |
| 2019 | 546 | 3.8 | 168 | 4.2 |
| 2020 | 361 | 4.7 | 51 | 9.8 |
| 2021 | 186 | 11.8 | 34 | 21.3 |
| 2022 | 78 | 20.6 | 48 | 12.9 |
| 2023 | 76 | 21.1 | 17 | 40.7 |
| 2024 | 20 | 77.0 | 11 | 104.0 |
| 2025 | 16 | 98.7 | 8 | 151.0 |
| 2026 | 8 | 154.0 | 8 | 199.0 |
Philanthropy
$30 million to Stanford for an engineering centre; $50 million to Oregon State University in 2022.[1]
Political donations and public roles
The Federal Election Commission queries run for this profile (2022, 2024 and 2026 cycles; top 100 itemised records per name and cycle) matched no itemised federal contributions.[5]
Lobbying by companies
Company-level: according to Issue One’s analysis of federal lobbying disclosures, Nvidia spent $4.95 million in 2025, nearly eight times the $640,000 it spent in 2024.[6]
| Company | 2025 spending | Change from 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Meta | $26.29 million | about 8% higher (record) |
| Alphabet | $16.62 million | nearly 12% higher |
| Microsoft | $10.1 million | 2% lower |
| Nvidia | $4.95 million | up from $640,000 |
| X | $720,000 | unchanged |
Controversies and legal cases
Company-level: on 6 May 2022 the SEC charged Nvidia with inadequate disclosures about the impact of cryptomining on its gaming business in fiscal 2018; Nvidia agreed to pay a $5.5 million penalty without admitting or denying the findings.[7]
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
Company-level: Nvidia completed its $7 billion acquisition of Israel-based Mellanox Technologies on 27 April 2020.[8] In December 2025 Nvidia confirmed a campus in Kiryat Tivon for up to 10,000 employees (construction from 2027, initial occupancy planned for 2031). Huang said Israel “has become Nvidia’s second home”.[9]
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
Company-level: on 13 May 2025 HUMAIN, an AI subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, announced a strategic partnership with Nvidia to build AI factories in Saudi Arabia, with a projected capacity of up to 500 megawatts over five years. The first phase is to be an 18,000-chip Nvidia GB300 Grace Blackwell AI supercomputer.[10]
China
In August 2025 Nvidia and AMD agreed to share 15% of revenue from certain chip sales to China with the US government to secure export licences; President Trump credited Huang with negotiating the figure down from 20%.[11]
Russia
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
India
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
See the China export-licence arrangement above.[11]
Other international links
Company-level: on 18 September 2025 Nvidia announced a £2 billion investment in the United Kingdom’s AI start-up ecosystem, together with Accel, Air Street Capital, Balderton, Hoxton Ventures and Phoenix Court. Huang was quoted: “The United Kingdom is in a Goldilocks moment, where world-class universities, bold startups, leading researchers and cutting-edge supercomputing converge.”[12]
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Jensen Huang (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/jensen-huang/) Forbes, live record, real-time timestamp 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Investopedia, The 10 Richest People in the World (citing Bloomberg Billionaires Index, figures as of 1 Oct 2026) Investopedia, updated 2 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ U.S. Federal Election Commission, OpenFEC Schedule A (itemised individual contributions) query, contributor name "HUANG, JENSEN"; 2024 cycle shown in link, the 2022, 2024 and 2026 cycles were queried with the same parameters; top 100 records per name and cycle; compiler filtered by employer/occupation and excluded memo entries from totals U.S. Federal Election Commission, data as filed; queried 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Issue One, Armies of Lobbyists Helped Big Tech Rack up Victories During First Year of Trump's Second Term Issue One, 21 January 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC Charges NVIDIA Corporation with Inadequate Disclosures about Impact of Cryptomining (press release 2022-79) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 6 May 2022, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ NVIDIA Newsroom, NVIDIA Completes Acquisition of Mellanox, Creating Major Force Driving Next-Gen Data Centers NVIDIA Newsroom, 27 April 2020, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Globes, Jensen Huang: Israel has become Nvidia's second home Globes, 18 December 2025, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ NVIDIA Newsroom, HUMAIN and NVIDIA Announce Strategic Partnership to Build AI Factories of the Future in Saudi Arabia NVIDIA Newsroom, 13 May 2025, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Associated Press, US will get a 15% cut of Nvidia and AMD chip sales to China under a new, unusual agreement Associated Press, 11 August 2025, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ NVIDIA Newsroom, NVIDIA Announces £2 Billion Investment in the United Kingdom AI Startup Ecosystem NVIDIA Newsroom, 18 September 2025, accessed 20 October 2026.