Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has a reputation for being a formidable boss — and that’s the way he likes it.
In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, Huang was unsurprised when correspondent Bill Whitaker shared some of the words Nvidia employees used to describe the company’s chief:
“Demanding, perfectionist, not easy to work with,” Whitaker said, citing people who work with Huang at the software company.
Huang said those traits fit him “perfectly.”
“It should be like that,” he told the outlet. “If you want to do extraordinary things, it shouldn’t be easy.”
Huang’s approach to excellence seems to be working. Nvidia is one of just four companies in the world valued at more than $2 trillion after its stock market value doubled in only 8 months last year.
The company’s AI chips are considered the best in the business and increasing demand for the futuristic tech has allowed Nvidia to essentially control the market.
Huang has previously spoken about his leadership style at the helm of the uber-successful company, telling Stanford Graduate School of Business earlier this month that CEOs should, “by definition,” have the most direct reports of anyone at a company.
He has said he handles 50 direct reports at Nvidia in order to stay up to date with what’s happening at various levels of the company.
“The more direct reports the CEO has, the less layers are in the company,” Huang said at the 2023 NYT DealBook Summit.
While speaking at Stanford earlier this year, the 61-year-old CEO credited his work ethic to being a dishwasher at Denny’s. Huang and his cofounders came up with the idea for Nvidia over a meal at the chain breakfast restaurant.
Huang said starting Nvidia was “a million times harder” than he anticipated during a 2023 appearance on the tech podcast “Acquired.”
“No one in their right mind would do it,” he added.
In the Sunday “60 Minutes” interview, Huang also addressed concerns that AI could make many jobs obsolete in the future, saying humans should continue to be “in the loop.”
“Because we have good judgment because there are circumstances the machine is just not going to understand,” he said.
