In brief: For helping to turn the company into a $2.28 trillion AI behemoth, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was rewarded with a 60% pay rise during the last financial year, taking his total compensation to a massive $34 million. That puts him ahead of rival CEOs Lisa Su and Pat Gelsinger.
By dominating the advanced AI hardware space, Nvidia has seen its share price catapult from $289 in May last year to $913 today. Team Green's $2.28 trillion market cap makes it the third largest company in the world behind Apple ($2.87 trillion) and Microsoft ($3.09 trillion).
CEO Huang actually saw his compensation package for the 2023 fiscal year cut by $2.5 million, or around 10%, because of Nvidia missing financial targets, though he still walked away with $21.3 million.
Nvidia's annual proxy filings show that Huang's compensation increased significantly during the last (2024) financial year, jumping 60% to $34.2 million. It consisted of $26.7 million in stock awards, $4 million in cash bonuses, and $2.5 million for other expenses, which includes the likes of car, drivers, and security at his residence.
It was reported earlier this year that due to Nvidia's skyrocketing share price, Huang, who owns 3.79% of the company, had reached 21st position on Bloomberg's Billionaire's Index, with a net worth of almost $70 billion. Nvidia's share price has increased almost 45% since then, increasing Huang's net worth to $80.5 billion and pushing him up to 18th place on Bloomberg's rich list.
It's not only Nvidia's CEO benefitting from the company's success. Business Insider notes that the median employee's take-home pay during fiscal 2024 was $266,939, up 17% compared to the year before. Chief financial officer Colette Kress, meanwhile, received a pay increase of about 22% to $13.3 million.
Huang's $34.2 million compensation is almost double that of Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger's $16.8 million, though the Team Blue boss did receive total compensation of $178.59 million when appointed head of the company in 2021. As for AMD's Lisa Su, she received a $1.2 million salary and $21.85 million in stock awards, with her total compensation reaching $30.35 million.