May 16, 2023

Question of the Day [AAPI Heritage Month]: What company, founded by an Asian American, creates computer chips that power games like Fortnite and Minecraft?

This gaming industry innovator is not playing around.

Answer: Nvidia was founded by Asian American Jensen Huang in 1993. He remains CEO with a net worth of $26.7 billion dollars.

Jensen Huang head shot with information about his net worth.

Questions:

  • What are the skills that you need to start a company?
  • What are the skills that you need to lead a large company with a 28 year history? 
  • Do you think it's unusual to have a founder, like Jensen Huang, still involved in a business 28 years after it was founded? Why or why not? 
  • Huang was separated from his parents at a young age and sent to the U.S. What impact do you think this would have in explaining his success as an entrepreneur?

 

Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom. 

 

Behind the numbers (CNBC):

"Huang, who co-founded Nvidia in 1993, arrived in the United States in the early 1970s with his brother. Their parents sent them to live with relatives while they got their education. In previous interviews, Huang said that growing up playing video games taught him perseverance. Losing over and over again made him push himself to win, he said in 2010. Huang later attended Oregon State University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering — perhaps inspired by his father’s chemical engineering background. Waiting tables at Denny’s in his 20s brought the future Nvidia CEO out of his shell by teaching him how “make the best of a state of chaos,” he once told the New York Times. Huang went on to earn a master’s degree in engineering from Stanford University. By 29, Huang and two friends — engineers Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem — co-founded Nvidia with just $40,000."

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Check out NGPF's Entrepreneurship mini unit for more ways to get your students thinking about business!

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About the Author

Ryan Wood

Ryan grew up with and maintains a love for learning. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with a degree in Business Administration and worked in sports marketing for a number of years. After living in Texas, Colorado, Tennessee, and Minnesota, the call of education eventually brought Ryan back to his home state of Wisconsin where he was a Business and Marketing teacher for three years. In his free time he likes to spend time with his wife and daughter, play basketball, read, and go fishing. Now with NGPF, Ryan is excited to help teachers lead the most important course their students will ever take.

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