Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Was Offered CEO Role At Rival Company In 2013: 'I Already Have A Job'

Nvidia Corporation NVDA CEO Jensen Huang was offered the CEO role at a rival company over a decade ago.

Had the 61-year-old Huang made the move, it would have changed the semiconductor industry forever. For one thing, it could have kept Nvidia from becoming the world's most valuable company.

What Happened: Huang co-founded Nvidia in a Denny's restaurant in 1993. Over the years, it transformed into one of the largest companies in the world. Today, it is a leader in artificial intelligence.

Things could have looked much different.

Taiwan Semiconductor TSM founder Morris Chang once offered the CEO role of his company to Huang in 2013.

"I spent about 10 minutes concisely explaining my deep expectations for TSMC," Chang said, per Reuters, citing Chang’s new autobiography.

Chang saw Huang as the right candidate because of his expertise in the semiconductor sector plus his character. Huang listened to the pitch, but ultimately turned Chang down.

"I already have a job," Huang said, after listening to Chang's pitch.

Chang said he tried one more time weeks later to no avail.

“Jensen's response to me was honest: He ‘already had a job!’ That job was to elevate Nvidia to what it is today, 11 years later,” Chang wrote.

Huang turning down the CEO offer from Chang didn't sour things between the two men, who have often shared praise for each other publicly.

Chang also goes into detail on betting on TSMC to become a manufacturing partner for Nvidia, even once sending production staff to help Huang's company in 1998 when they were short-staffed.

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Why It's Important: The autobiography from Chang is the second volume, which covers his life from 1964 to 2018. The book covers Chang's time at Texas Instruments and the creation of TSMC in 1987.

The first volume of Chang's autobiography series was published in 1998.

The new book also covers Chang's retelling of TSMC's relationships with key customers which include Apple and Qualcomm.

Chang also details how Intel Corporation INTC turned down a chance to invest in TSMC in the 1980s before later becoming one of the company's key customers.

NVDA, TSM Price Action: Nvidia is the second most valuable company in the world at the time of writing, worth $3.385 trillion and trailing only Apple ($3.587 trillion). Nvidia has passed Apple on several occasions over the last year.

Nvidia stock is up 187% year-to-date in 2024 and up over 2,500% over the last five years.

Taiwan Semiconductor has a market capitalization of $957.7 billion, ranking 10^th among public companies worldwide and just shy of the $1 trillion milestone.

Taiwan Semiconductor stock is up 82% year-to-date in 2024 and up over 230% in the last five years.

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