Jensen Huang’s entrance at this year’s Nvidia conference had all the trappings of a pop idol performing in their hometown. Demand was so high that some attendees abandoned overcrowded coaches and resorted to running through downtown San Jose to catch the chief executive’s speech. As they searched for empty seats in the 11,000-capacity arena, the music swelled. Huang walked forwards, dressed in his trademark black leather jacket, and joked: “I hope you realise this is not a concert.”
Over the past 18 months, Huang’s bet on artificial intelligence chips and software has turned Nvidia into one of the most powerful companies in the world. This week its market value briefly rose above $3tn — only the third company in history to do so.
Huang is on the cusp of becoming a household name, joining the likes of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg as one of the few tech CEOs the public can recognise. But even Musk has never been filmed signing a woman’s top, as Huang was this week.