Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, has sold more than $1 billion worth of shares since June 2023. This significant stock sale concluded a pre-planned arrangement initiated in March, where Huang intended to offload up to 6 million shares by the end of the year. The final transaction, involving 25,000 shares, was reported on Friday, marking the end of a series of sales that began when Nvidia’s stock was valued at approximately $865 million.
Nvidia, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, recently achieved a remarkable milestone by becoming the first company to reach a $5 trillion market valuation on October 25, 2023. This surge in stock value has not only benefited Huang but has also created significant wealth for others associated with the company. For instance, Brooke Seawell, a board member, became a billionaire due to the stock’s rise in recent days.
As of October 2023, Huang ranks ninth on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with a net worth of $175.7 billion, reflecting an increase of $61.3 billion this year alone. Since 2001, he has sold more than $2.9 billion in Nvidia stock and currently holds a 3.5 percent stake in the company. Moreover, he has donated shares valued at over $300 million this year to his foundation and a donor-advised fund.
Nvidia has witnessed a wave of wealth creation among its executives, not just Huang. In the third quarter, Jayshree Ullal, CEO of Arista Networks, outpaced Huang by selling $861 million worth of stock, ranking just behind Jeff Bezos in terms of top company insider sellers. Other Nvidia insiders have sold nearly $1.5 billion worth of shares through the third quarter of 2023, with total insider sales surpassing $2 billion for the year, a significant rise from $462 million in 2022.
Notably, the wealth boom at Nvidia has led to the emergence of seven billionaires within its ranks. This includes Colette Kress, the chief financial officer, and Jay Puri, executive vice president of worldwide field operations, both of whom have achieved net worths of around $1.2 billion each, according to Bloomberg. Additionally, Tench Coxe, a board member, recently joined the list of the world’s 500 richest individuals with a net worth of $7.5 billion. Fellow director Mark Stevens ranks 247th globally with a fortune of $12.5 billion, derived from Nvidia stock and partial ownership of the Golden State Warriors.
Seawell, the latest addition to the billionaire club, confirmed in an email that he and his heirs now possess a net worth of $1.1 billion. Unlike Coxe and Stevens, who secured their board positions through their venture firm’s investments, Seawell was already an executive at NetDynamics when he joined the Nvidia board in 1997 and continues to serve as a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates.
Despite the impressive wealth creation and stock activity, Nvidia did not respond to requests for comment regarding Huang’s recent sales and the overall financial performance of the company. The ongoing developments illustrate the profound impact of artificial intelligence on the tech sector, with Nvidia at the forefront of this transformative wave.
