Co-Founder, CEO and President, NVIDIA – 1993-present
Considering he helms a graphics card vendor most channel pros would only have vaguely been aware of 18 months ago, Jensen Huang is this countdown’s surprise package.
The leather jacket-sporting Founder-CEO was a top-five choice for 13 of the 60 channel leaders we sounded out, reflecting his success in elevating NVIDIA to tech superpower status.
Having co-founded NVIDIA in 1993, Taiwan-born Huang now leads a company that briefly became the world’s most valuable in June, and has become a kingmaker in the AI era.
Leadership style
Responding to comments from staff that he is “demanding”, a “perfectionist”, and “not easy to work for”, Huang replied in a recent 60 Minutes interview that “it should be like that” (see below). According to a recent CNBC report, Huang has 50 direct reports, five times more than would be typical.
Low points
Huang admitted he and his fellow NVIDIA co-founders went through “pain and suffering” in its early years, with the company reportedly just days away from going bust in 1996.
Killer quote
“If you want to do extraordinary things, it shouldn’t be easy.” (taken from 60 Minutes interview, above)
What our panellists said about Huang
Hayley Roberts, CEO, Distology
“I really love Jensen. He had humble beginnings – being in a school for difficult people. And he was co-founder of Nvidia – one of the most important and impactful companies in the world atm.”
Larry Walsh, CEO and Chief Analyst, Channelnomics
“Of course he’s on the list. He’s leading the next wave of technology disruption and innovation; he’s taken Nvidia from a gaming graphics card company to the powerhouse of AI enablement.”
Phil Doye, CEO, boxxe
“What can you say about Jensen Huang? The story and growth in value is unprecedented and he deserves every accolade he gets. That said there is part of me that thinks he got a bit lucky and not sure he would have ever believed a humble graphics card manufacturer would end up dominating the world of AI.”
Rupert Mills, Director, Krome Technologies
“I didn’t know that much about him until recently but Nvidia’s growth has boosted his profile. I found him to be refreshing in his approach and his views around providing feedback and managing staff to be very interesting, particularly his views on managing a big team but giving immediate feedback.”
How did IT Channel Oxygen compile The Century’s Greatest Vendor Leaders? See here
