Tech billionaire who received the VinFuture Prize

At the VinFuture 2024 award ceremony, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, along with four other scientists, were honored as the winners of the $3 million Grand Prize.

The award celebrates groundbreaking contributions in the field of Deep Learning, which has ushered in a new era of technological innovation. These advances have enabled machines to “learn” from vast amounts of data, achieving impressive accuracy in tasks such as image recognition, natural language processing, and decision-making.

Mr. Jensen Huang at the VinFuture Awards Ceremony 2024. (Photo: VinFuture)

During the special award ceremony, Mr. Jensen Huang said: "I am honored to receive the VinFuture Grand Prize, alongside friends and renowned scientists such as Professor Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton and Yann LeCun.

This award is a recognition from the VinFuture Foundation for the groundbreaking potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in all fields. I am proud to represent my colleagues at NVIDIA who have dedicated their lives to computer science and related fields. Thank you to the VinFuture Foundation for recognizing our efforts."

Who is Jensen Huang?

Mr. Jensen Huang is one of the world's leading technology leaders, known as the co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA (a pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence and computer graphics). He often appears in public in his iconic leather jacket, inspiring a desire for endless creativity.

Under Huang's leadership, NVIDIA has become more than just a business; it has become a force for global change, opening new doors in areas like healthcare, automation, and even the gaming industry.

Jensen Huang, whose full name is Jen-Hsun Huang, was born on February 17, 1963, in Taiwan (China). His childhood was associated with the transition between two cultures when his family immigrated to the United States. Growing up in Oregon, Huang's passion for science gradually formed.

He began his education at Oregon State University, which opened his eyes to the world of computers. "I loved computers as a kid, but Oregon State University opened my eyes to the magic behind them," he says.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh presented the VinFuture Prize 2024 to Professor Yoshua Bengio, Mr. Jensen Huang and Professor Yann LeCun at the VinFuture Prize Ceremony in Hanoi on December 6, 2024. (Photo: VinFuture)

After graduating, Mr. Huang worked at chip companies LSI Logic and AMD. Before starting his business with two friends, he worked as a waiter at Danny's Restaurant.

Mr. Jensen Huang once shared that this experience had a great impact on the trajectory of his life. He said that without his experience as a waiter in this restaurant, he would not have become the leader he is today.

Jensen Huang was a shy boy by nature, but taking pancake orders taught him how to interact with strangers and compromise in stressful situations that were beyond his control.

According to a 2017 Oregon State University profile, Huang placed high in the national youth table tennis tournament while attending high school in Beaverton. He also holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

Mr. Huang met his wife, Lori Mills, when he was a freshman at Oregon State University. They married five years later and have two children.

Since founding NVIDIA more than 30 years ago, Jensen Huang has attracted global attention as his company has become one of the leading names in the “coin mining”, video games and artificial intelligence crazes. Companies around the world are now competing to buy NVIDIA’s powerful processors.

How rich is Jensen Huang?

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index , Mr. Jensen Huang has a net worth of up to 176 billion USD, ranking 9th on the list of the world's richest people. Most of this huge fortune has been accumulated in recent years, when NVIDIA became the world's most valuable technology company with a market capitalization exceeding 5 trillion USD.

About 96% of Huang’s wealth comes from his 3.5% stake in NVIDIA, worth more than $170 billion. Unlike many other billionaires, he did not diversify his investments but bet almost all of his assets on the company he founded. As NVIDIA’s stock price increased, so did his wealth, demonstrating absolute faith in his vision.

Mr. Jensen Huang is the newest name on the list of the 10 richest people in the world and also a symbol of the AI billionaire era. (Photo: Reuters)

According to Bloomberg , Huang's fortune has increased 60-fold since 2016, with $132 billion generated between 2023 and 2025 alone, as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a global focus.

Just five years ago, he wasn't even on this list. Today, he's on par with the founders of some of the world's biggest companies, including Meta, Google, and Microsoft, all of which use NVIDIA technology.

If NVIDIA continues to maintain its dominant position in the AI chip market, Mr. Huang's assets are completely capable of surpassing 200 billion USD, comparable to top billionaires like Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos.

Comment (0)