Founder lost $70 billion by leaving Nvidia too early

Curtis Priem speaks at an event at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Photo: RPI .

A visionary, Curtis Priem recognized the great potential of visual technology even at a time when computer graphics and video games were not yet popular. He created the first graphics processor for personal computers, the IBM Professional Graphics Adapter .

However, Curtis Priem withdrew from Nvidia very early. According to Forbes ' estimates, if he had kept all the shares he owned in this technology corporation, he would have become one of the richest people on the planet with a net worth of more than 70 billion USD .

Starting a career

Priem attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York and graduated in 1982 with a degree in computer electrical engineering.

He took his first job out of college at Vermont Microsystems, a now-defunct technology company. But the big break that propelled Curtis Priem's ​​career came when he moved to California and joined Sun Microsystems.

Here, Priem played a key role in creating the IBM Professional Graphics Adapter , making a strong personal mark in the technology world and establishing himself as a leading name in the field of design and development.

Nvidia Co-Founder

The story was confirmed by Jensen Huang, Nvidia's current CEO, in an interview at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Huang, Priem, and Nvidia's other co-founder Chris Malachowsky met at a Denny's restaurant in Silicon Valley to discuss their potential partnership.

Some pictures of Curtis Priem at Nvidia's office during its early days. Photo: Curtis Priem.

Malachowsky worked at Sun Microsystems with Priem, while Huang worked at LSI Logic and Advanced Micro Devices. Notably, Huang worked as a dishwasher at Denny's before graduating from Oregon State University with a degree in electrical engineering.

Nvidia was founded on April 15, 1993. The founders shared a “vision of bringing 3D graphics to the gaming and multimedia market” and worked tirelessly to make it happen. Nvidia invented the world’s first GPU in 1999.

That same year, the IPO took place on January 22, 1999, bringing Nvidia to the stock market with each share valued at $12 .

Post Nvidia

By 2025, Nvidia’s stock peaked at nearly $150 , which represents a dramatic increase in value in a short period of time. At the end of 2019, the company’s stock price was below $6 .

Nvidia's explosive growth can be directly linked to the recent rise of AI. Nvidia's deep experience in graphics processing gives it a huge advantage as it moves into the complex world of artificial intelligence computing.

Portrait of the three founders of Nvidia. Photo: Nvidia.

With Nvidia valued at more than $2.7 trillion on the stock market, CEO Jensen Huang's net worth has also increased to over $115 billion , about 3,833 times higher than the net worth of co-founder Priem.

Priem is a private person, and it is unclear exactly why he left Nvidia in 2003 and sold all his shares in 2006. He moved to a secluded home in a relatively remote corner of California, according to sources.

However, when asked by Forbes about this, he expressed regret. "I did something crazy. I wish I had kept a little more," he said in an interview in 2023.

Priem rarely goes out these days, except for a few annual visits to his alma mater, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he remains actively involved in a number of activities.

Priem is a well-known philanthropist. In addition to the large sums he gave away after Nvidia's IPO, he continues to give money away through the Priem Family Foundation.

Source: https://znews.vn/nha-sang-lap-danh-mat-70-ty-usd-vi-roi-nvidia-qua-som-post1545859.html