Nvidia CEO first worked at Denny’s

By Joseph Papik –

CEO of Nvidia Jensen Huang, who oversees $216B in revenues, got his start by cleaning up syrup spills.

“I was probably Denny’s best dish washer. I washed the living daylights out of the dishes,” Huang says. “No task is beneath me.”

Huang’s first gig at Denny’s when he was 15 taught him hard work and valuing customers, as he was scrubbing tables, doing dishes and dealing with the chaotic nighttime crowds. These early lessons in discipline and humility turned out to be the second most significant aspect of his journey.

Huang’s story really took off when he co-founded Nvidia in 1993, betting big that graphics chips could revolutionize gaming with high definition. Together with electronics engineers Chris Malachowski and Curtis Priem, Huang launched a company that would cause gamers worldwide to rejoice.

And they brain-stormed their ideas at – where else? – a Denny’s. Their first effort failed and nearly bankrupt the startup. But the reset scored spectacularly. Now, its breakthrough GPU graphic chips are used to power AI, and Nvidia is a $2T+ corporation.

Unlike so many tech wizards, Jensen Huang remains down-to-earth. “You never forget where you came from,” he says.

He was born in Taiwan. He was sent to live with an uncle in America who, thinking he was sending the little kid to a prestigious school in Kentucky, actually enrolled him in a reform school for troubled kids.

Much like Elon Musk who was bullied, Huang learned to soldier through adversity.

Studying electrical engineering, he got a bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University in 1984 and a Master’s degree from Stanford University in 1992. He married his lab partner, Lori, when she was 17 and he was 19. They have two kids, Spencer and Madison.

Huang worked in Silicon Valley chip companies, like Advanced Micro Devices and LSI Logic, where he rose to director of coreware, gaining experience designing microprocessors.

When Nvidia hit success with gaming graphics, Huang oversaw the application of his chips to other uses: artificial intelligence, data centers, robotics, scientific computing and autonomous vehicles. Nvidia joined the ranks of Microsoft and Apple as top world companies.

No matter how admired he is, the guy who always sports a cool black leather jacket takes with him the lessons from early life at Denny’s: no job is beneath you, hard work and endurance, teamwork matters, attention to detail, respect for frontline workers, opportunity can come from humble beginnings.