On the evening of May 12 this year, Nvidia’s chief executive Jensen Huang joined President Trump on Air Force One during a stopover at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Alaska. The occasion came as Trump was en route to a summit with China’s President Xi Jinping in Beijing. Huang, known for his distinctive all-black outfit and silver hair, arrived on the tarmac after receiving a last-minute phone call from the president and chartering a private jet from California’s Bay Area. He briefly interacted with members of Trump’s entourage, including conservative commentator Sean Hannity and Trump’s son Eric, before boarding the plane alongside fellow tech figures such as Elon Musk.

Huang’s presence at the summit highlighted his significance in the global technology landscape. Born in Taipei in 1963 to an engineer and schoolteacher, Huang immigrated to the United States as a child. After attending a challenging juvenile reform school in Kentucky and enduring racist abuse, he eventually excelled academically in Oregon and worked at a Denny’s diner, where he moved up from dishwasher to busboy. He later earned a degree in electrical engineering from Oregon State University, where he met his future wife, Lori Mills.

In 1993, Huang co-founded Nvidia with Curtis Priem and Chris Malachowsky, initially drafting company paperwork at a Denny’s. Nvidia faced early financial hardships and nearly went bankrupt twice, but ultimately found success in creating graphics processing units (GPUs) for video games by the late 1990s. These GPUs, marketed under the GeForce brand, gained significant traction among gamers due to their superior computational power compared to traditional central processing units (CPUs).

Recognizing broader potential, Huang developed the Cuda platform to repurpose Nvidia’s GPUs beyond gaming, aiming to serve scientific computing needs. After a slow start and several years of financial losses, the breakthrough came in 2012 when Alex Krizhevsky, a graduate student, demonstrated a neural network model called AlexNet running on Nvidia’s hardware. This event marked a turning point, catalyzing Nvidia’s shift towards artificial intelligence (AI) and accelerating demand from major tech companies like Google.

By 2014, Nvidia expanded its offerings from individual GPU cards to full-scale AI data center solutions. The company’s market value soared, surpassing Intel in 2020 to become the world’s most valuable microchip maker; by 2025, Nvidia was the most valuable publicly traded company globally, with Huang’s net worth exceeding $100 billion.

Huang, the longest-serving tech CEO in the S&P 500, is noted for a demanding leadership style characterized by high expectations and occasional outbursts. Despite this, he has maintained a close family life, with his wife and children involved in the company’s operations. Employees reportedly live in fear of his temper but also seek his approval, which has oftentimes brought substantial rewards.

In the AI industry, Huang functions as a key gatekeeper; Nvidia’s hardware is essential for leading AI developers, including firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic. He has also invested in startups and occasionally influences the allocation of GPU resources. His growing influence has made him a figure of global importance.

Huang’s relationship with President Trump has drawn attention, marked by public appearances together and Trump’s lifting of U.S. export restrictions on Nvidia chip sales to China, opening access to a vast market. On public forums, Huang has praised Trump’s intellect, reflecting a complex interplay between corporate ambition and political engagement.

Despite his high-profile status, Huang sometimes embraces a populist image. For example, following a state dinner with world leaders in Beijing, he gained viral attention for eating a modest $6 bowl of noodles on the street. In China and Taiwan, his celebrity status rivals that of icons like Steve Jobs, with local businesses capitalizing on his presence.

Observers note that much of Huang’s public persona is carefully managed. Described as a calculated and pragmatic engineer at heart, he continuously analyzes technical, social, and financial factors to maintain Nvidia’s dominant market position and personal influence. Whether through strategic business decisions, political connections, or symbolic gestures, Jensen Huang has solidified his standing as a leading figure in the global AI revolution.