A history of the AI chipmaker, from humble beginnings to the third-most valuable company on Earth

Nvidia and its high-flying stock have exploded on the market over the past year, as the AI craze — and the expensive chips Nvidia sells to power AI models — brought a special sparkle to investors’ eyes.

At the same time, Nvidia’s rise has ignited fears of an AI bubble. But unlike companies in the dot-com era, Nvidia is supported by strong business fundamentals — the company posted first-quarter revenue growth of 270% over 2023 — that have Wall Street coming back for more.

The $2 trillion dollar company had humble beginnings. Its now-billionaire founder and CEO Jensen Huang worked as a dishwasher to make money as a teenager, and the company almost went bankrupt in its first two years.

Now Nvidia stock is up a whopping 87% so far in 2024, 223% over the last 12 months, 1,793% over the last five years.

Let’s take a look at Nvidia’s rise from its start at a Denny’s restaurant to the third-most valuable company on earth.

https://qz.com/nvidia-history-origin-ai-chip-jensen-huang-1851372906