Jensen Huang Founded Nvidia At A Denny's, Now He's Worth 600x More Than The Restaurant Chain

Tech giant NVIDIA Corporation NVDA was founded in a Denny's restaurant by friends Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem.

Today, the company is worth more than 3 trillion and Huang is one of the richest people in the world.

What Happened: The connection between Denny's Corporation DENN and Nvidia will remain a part of the company's history, with the company being founded at a restaurant location in California.

Huang also previously worked as a dishwasher, busboy and waiter at Denny's, with his LinkedIn profile famously listing his work experience at Denny's from 1978 to 1983 and his role as Founder and CEO of NVIDIA from 1993 to present.

While the two companies are historically connected, their stock performance over the last few decades is extremely different and disconnected.

Denny's stock, which went public in 1997, has fallen 45% in the last year, is down 64% over the last five years and is down over 50% since going public.

Nvidia stock, which went public in 1999, is up 21% over the last year, up over 1,400% over the last five years and a top performer since going public with gains of over 334,000%.

With the increase in Nvidia's stock price, the wealth of Huang has also risen.

Today, the Nvidia CEO is the 12^th richest person in the world worth $122 billion, as reported by Bloomberg. While Huang has a ways to go ($24 billion) to re-enter the top 10 list, he is worth significantly more than many people around the world and worth more than many companies.

In fact, Huang is now worth 604.9x Denny’s current market capitalization ($201.7 million), a multiple that could bring the connection between the two companies full circle.

Read Also: Nvidia Stock Has ‘Significant Upside’ As AI ‘Godfather’ Jensen Huang Delivers Another ‘Robust Quarter’

Why It's Important: A company founded by friends inside a Denny's booth is now worth more than $3 trillion and the company's CEO is 604.9x richer than the value of the entire Denny's restaurant company.

Huang has often recalled the famous breakfast meeting with the other Nvidia co-founders that led to the company's creation.

“It had all the coffee you could drink and no one could chase you out,” Huang recalled of the Denny’s meeting.

The famous Denny’s location also paid tribute to its connections to the business launch, with a plaque unveiled in September 2023.

Huang visited the Denny’s location in 2023 and recalled the famous meeting while speaking with Denny’s CEO Kelli Valade.

“Denny’s has taught me so many lessons,” Huang said.

The Nvidia co-founder recalled having his first job at a Denny’s in Portland when he was 15 years old.

“I was a dishwasher, I was a busboy, I waited tables. No one can carry more coffee cups than I can.”

Huang encouraged people to get their first job in the restaurant business.

“It teaches you humility, it teaches you hard work, it teaches you hospitality.”

The three co-founders dreamed up the idea of creating a chip that would help make 3D graphics realistic on personal computers.

The plaque reads “the booth that launched a $1 trillion company.”

A post on X highlighted the connection between Nvidia and Denny’s.

“Nvidia was founded during a breakfast meeting at Denny’s. Today, Nvidia makes more money in four hours than Denny’s makes in a year,” Jon Ehrlichman tweeted in February 2024.

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