Jensen Huang's biographer reveals the Nvidia CEO is 'really motivated by fear and guilt'

Jensen Huang has been outspoken about his intense work ethic, notably remarking in a 2024 interview, 'I work as much as I can.'

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang helms one of the globe's most successful companies, now valued at nearly $3.4 trillion. Despite this monumental achievement, Huang has openly admitted to a persistent worry that the company he co-founded in 1993 could "implode at any minute."

According to biographer Stephen Witt, this profound fear of failure is a primary driver behind Huang's exceptional success. Witt, who conducted a six-hour interview with Huang and spoke with his colleagues and employees for his January-published book, The Thinking Machine, stated, "This is his fuel. This is his gasoline, [and it’s] what makes him go is this anxiety."

Although Huang has been outspoken about his intense work ethic, notably remarking, "I work as much as I can," during an April 2024 fireside chat with Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, even then, Witt said he was surprised by the extent to which the Nvidia CEO's motivation appears to originate from anxiety, fear, and guilt, CNBC Make It reported.

"I think the most surprising thing about Jensen is that he’s almost totally driven by negative emotions," Witt said. "He’s really motivated by fear and guilt to a significant extent: fear of failure, paranoia about competition, and guilt about letting people down... Jensen, of course, is an obvious, huge go-getter, but it’s all coming from this place of almost beating himself up for not working hard enough all the time," Witt added. "I didn’t expect to see that... In fact, he becomes very uncomfortable and nervous when things are going well."

CNBC Make It stated that they had reached out to a Nvidia spokeswoman, but she declined to comment.