Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been one of the poster boys for the AI revolution, because his company’s chips are essential for the technology. But the $4tn company had more humble beginnings. Huang was born in Taiwan and then spent some time in Thailand because his father moved the family there for work. His parents then sent him to live with an uncle in the US when he was 9, along with his older brother. Huang’s parents later came to the US and the family reunited in Oregon, where he attended high school, graduating early after skipping two grades. At Oregon State University, Huang studied electrical engineering in a class that had about 250 students, only three of whom were women, including his future wife, Lori, who was on his lab team. The couple went on to work as chip designers in Silicon Valley, with Huang earning his graduate degree from Stanford University in 1992.

Nvidia got its start when three engineers – Huang, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem – gathered in 1993 at a Denny