If You Invested $1,000 In Nvidia Stock When Jensen Huang Got Company Logo Tattoo, Here's How Much You'd Have Today

NVIDA Corporation NVDA has been one of the best-performing stocks over the last year and helped kickstart a surge in interest in the artificial intelligence sector and related stocks.

Passing a market capitalization of $1 trillion in May 2023 was among the recent highlights for the semiconductor company. While Nvidia CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang previously got a tattoo to celebrate a company milestone years ago, he didn't add any new ink when the company passed $1 trillion.

What Happened: Shares of Nvidia gained more than 200% in 2023, one of the best returns by a large capitalization stock for the year, helping to add to the wealth of Huang.

The stock is up over 150% year-to-date in 2024 and, earlier this year, briefly passed Apple Inc and Microsoft Corporation to be the world's most valuable company.

Huang co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and still leads the company today. The soaring stock price helped boost the wealth of Huang, adding $30.2 billion to take his wealth to $44.0 billion in 2023, ranking as the 29^th richest person in the world. Today, Huang is the 13^th richest person in the world, worth an estimated $107 billion as reported by Bloomberg.

Before Nvidia hit a $1 trillion market cap, another milestone was hit years ago, with shares passing the $100 level. That level would be reached several times, with shares splitting multiple times since 2000.

To celebrate the occasion of shares hitting $100, Huang promised company executives he would get the Nvidia logo as a tattoo.

In a 2017 interview with Fortune, Huang revealed the tattoo and shared more details.

“So, I really want to extend it. I actually kinda do. I would love to. But getting it really, really hurt,” Huang said.

Huang said his family was with him when he got his tattoo.

“I was crying like a baby. My kids were with me, and they were like, ‘Dad, you’ve gotta control yourself.'”

Huang mentioned that a semi-annual meeting from years ago was the inspiration behind the tattoo.

“And at one, someone said, ‘What are we gonna do when the stock price hits $100?'”

Huang recalled that others said they would shave their head, paint their hair a new color, get a mohawk and even get a nipple ring.

“So I said, ‘Yeah all right, I’ll get a tattoo.'”

The first picture that can be found online of Huang’s tattoo comes from the Nvidia Gaming Festival, with a post on Nvidia’s Instagram on Oct. 25, 2014.

“NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsu Huang shows off his NVDIA tattoo at the NVIDIA Gaming Festival,” the post reads.

It is unknown when Huang got his tattoo, but it doesn’t sound like more will be added to his arms anytime soon.

“Aging gracefully. No more tattoos. It hurts way more than anybody tells you,” Huang said in a 2023 interview.

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Investing $1,000 in Nvidia Stock: With the date unknown, when exactly Huang got his tattoo, a starting point for when the tattoo was unveiled to the public can be used.

The Nvidia Instagram post with Huang’s tattoo was shared on Oct. 25, 2014, which fell on the weekend. Shares opened at $18.48 on the following Monday.

A $1,000 investment at the time could have bought 54.11 NVDA shares. Nvidia stock split four-for-one in July 2021 and 10-for-1 in June 2024. This would have turned the initial share count into 2,164.40 shares.

The $1,000 investment would be worth $268,299.02 today. This represents a potential return of +26,729.9%.

Compare that to a $1,000 investment in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, which tracks the S&P 500. A $1,000 investment in the ETF on the same day could have bought 5.11 SPY shares at the time. The $1,000 investment would be worth $2,915.31 today, representing a potential return of 191.5%.

Another point of reference could have been to buy Nvidia shares after the Fortune interview, which labeled Huang the Businessperson of the Year and made the tattoo more of a storyline for the public.

A $1,000 investment could have purchased 4.67 shares of Nvidia on Nov. 16, 2017, at a price of $214.20. The stock splits would have turned the investment into 186.80 NVDA shares. The $1,000 investment would be worth $23,155.73 today, representing a return of 2,215.6%.

The same $1,000 invested in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust on the same date could have purchased 3.89 SPY shares, which would be worth $2,219.28. This represents a potential return of 121.9%.

Investors who followed Huang's tattoo journey and recognized Nvidia's potential for future milestones would be incredibly grateful today.

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This article was previously published by Benzinga and has been updated.

Photo courtesy of Nvidia.