Nvidia's Jensen Huang's Wealth Exploded In Five Years To $108 Billion. Here's Why His Philanthropy Is Being Criticized

Jensen Huang, the CEO and co-founder of Nvidia NVDA, has seen his fortune soar to about $106 billion in just five years. Once worth $3.8 billion, Huang is now the 13th richest person in the world, thanks to the surging demand for Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs), essential for artificial intelligence (A.I.) products. But as his wealth has skyrocketed, so has the scrutiny over how he gives back to society.

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The Rise of Nvidia

Nvidia currently has a market capitalization of almost $3 trillion and is the third most valuable company in the world, behind only Apple ($3.4 T) and Microsoft ($3.1 T). The main cause for such a high valuation is that the company now controls between 70% and 95% of the global market for AI processors used in generative models like ChatGPT. Additionally, Nvidia’s shares have jumped over 170% in just the past year, boosting Huang’s wealth and cementing his status in the tech industry.

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It’s amazing to see Huang’s route to success. As a youngster, he worked cleaning toilets and as a dishwasher at Denny’s. He fondly recalls, "I mean, I cleaned a lot of toilets. I've cleaned more toilets than all of you combined – and some of them you just can’t unsee." 

His work ethic and approach to leadership are bar none. He emphasizes, "To me, no task is beneath me because I used to be a dishwasher [and] I used to clean toilets."

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Charitable Focus

Due to his enormous wealth, Huang has significantly increased the amount of money he donates to charity. By 2022, the foundation’s assets had grown from $13.2 million in 2007 to around $1 billion, according to the Observer.

His altruistic efforts frequently benefit local causes in California, Nvidia’s home state, as well as higher education and diversity in the AI field. Remarkably, his charity, the Jen-Hsun & Lori Huang charity, has contributed significantly to colleges, including Oregon State University and Stanford.

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However, much of Huang's philanthropy has been directed toward donor-advised funds (DAFs) rather than traditional nonprofits. In 2022, the foundation donated $66.3 million, with a significant portion going to a fund at Schwab Charitable, a DAF sponsor. 

Reports recently indicated that the Huang Foundation controls 69 million shares of Nvidia, currently valued at over $8 billion. This makes it the 20th largest foundation in the U.S. and its assets have increased eightfold since the end of 2022. 

In addition, Huang and his wife manage the GeForce Fund, also a donor-advised fund that holds an undisclosed number of Nvidia shares, with DAFgiving360 estimating that $4.4 billion of Nvidia stock is aggregated in funds controlled by the couple and their foundation.

While DAFs provide tax benefits and allow donors to maintain control over their giving, they have come under fire for their lack of transparency and accountability.

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The Criticism of DAFs

The main cause of Huang’s charitable criticism is his reliance on DAFs. Unlike traditional charities, which must give away at least 5% of their assets annually, DAFs can hold onto funds for years without distributing them. Because of this, some have questioned whether Huang’s philanthropic methods are truly selfless or just intended to gain tax benefits.

While DAFs offer a great deal of control over charity contributions, experts have pointed out that they can also cause money to remain unused for long stretches of time, which can restrict the immediate influence that gifts could have on urgent social issues.

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