"I’ve created more billionaires..." Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang reveals what no one tells you about building top teams

Jensen Huang

Nvidia’s Jensen Huang isn’t just building powerful GPUs, he’s building fortunes. Speaking at a recent tech forum, the CEO made a striking claim: “I’ve created more billionaires on my management team than any CEO in the world…” It wasn’t a brag, but a window into how Huang views leadership and success.

According to him, it all starts with tightly focused, well-supported teams. Citing companies like OpenAI and China’s DeepSeek, Huang said that 150 AI researchers with the right backing can accomplish more than massive departments with no direction. “That’s not a small team… that’s a good-sized team with the right infrastructure,” he explained.

His point was clear, you don’t need thousands of people to change the world. You need the right people, given the right tools. And if you're ready to spend billions buying such talent later, why not invest in them early?

What really sets Huang apart, though, is how personally involved he is in rewarding that talent. He admitted he still reviews the compensation of all 42,000 Nvidia employees. Using machine learning to help sort through data, he takes a hands-on approach — even occasionally surprising high performers with stock options. “Yeah… I’m carrying it in my pocket right now,” he joked, when asked about it.

Huang’s philosophy is simple but powerful: “You take care of people, everything else takes care of itself.”

In a time when flashy product launches and AI hype dominate headlines, Huang’s words cut through: build smart teams, back them fully, and always reward the people who make success possible.