Nvidia's Huang enjoys 'trillion dollar banquet' with 35 Taiwanese semiconductor industry chiefs

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Thanks fellow CEOs for working closely with Nvidia.

screenshot of the news report from Formosa TV News showing Jensen Huang having lunch with industry leaders in Taiwan
(Image credit: Formosa TV News)

Jensen Huang invited the chairpersons and chief executives of a host of Nvidia AI chip-building partners to a lavish meal on Saturday. According to the Central New Agency (machine translated), at least 35 execs attended what is being locally referred to as Huang’s 'trillion dollar banquet.' Industry luminaries attending included the heads of Quanta, Asus, Acer, Inventec, Gigabyte, ASRock, and MSI. The Nvidia CEO also gave a short interview alongside TSMC chairman CC Wei, where both industry giants had nothing but praise for each other.

This lunch out is reminiscent of Huang’s dinner with the heads of TSMC, MediaTek, and Quanta just before Computex 2024. However, the media did not have to speculate as to why the Nvidia CEO brought some of the biggest names in the computer industry here. He has previously said that he intends to meet with the CEOs of Nvidia’s supply chain partners to thank them for building Nvidia, and this catered event is likely the culmination of that promise.

Outside the restaurant, Taiwanese media interviewed the Nvidia CEO and the TSMC chairman. “[It’s] my pleasure and my honor to supply the chips to you and be a partner for more than 20 years,” CC Wei said to Jensen. “On behalf of my friends inside the restaurant, we thank you for bringing business to Taiwan.”

Regarding Nvidia’s partnership with TSMC, Huang said, “My hair was 100% black, now it’s 100% silver. So, without TSMC, of course, Nvidia would not be possible.” He also added, “Because of the PC revolution, there was Computex, and then the world started coming to Taiwan.” Wei interjected, “Jensen Huang bring it to Taiwan, remember that.” To which the Nvidia CEO replied with a smile, “That is not true!”

Aside from being industry partners for several decades, it seems that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and TSMC Chairperson CC Wei built a friendship — something rarely seen by the public.

Huang of the people

Although Jensen Huang is one of the richest people on earth, what separates him from other Silicon Valley billionaires is how relatable he is to the people. For example, he was spotted in late 2023 eating street food in Vietnam and visiting a LAN party in Hanoi, and he has been acting much the same with night market visits during this latest visit to Taiwan.

True enough, when he saw that there was a crowd waiting for him outside of the restaurant as he was eating with industry leaders, he came out for a moment to hand out sausages and sesame buns to the people. He also signed some autographs and got a couple of pictures taken with some lucky fans.

A few lucky kids also received “hongbao” or red envelopes containing NT$1,000 or about US$30 from Jensen. Aside from the monetary value, these gifts also symbolize love, blessings, and good luck, which many children expect to receive during the Chinese New Year. It’s actions like these that make him so loved by the Taiwanese people, leading to the rise of ‘Jensanity’, especially as Huang himself was born in Tainan, Taiwan, although he is also an American citizen.

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Jowi Morales
Jowi Morales
Contributing Writer

Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • LibertyWell
    These CEOs all sit on each others boards and vote themselves higher pay at the expense of their workers and shareholders. Every year their pay packages balloon a little more, with each new high watermark in compensation raising the yachts of all executives (because in CEO land, pay is based on what the other CEOs get) while the boat-less employees get left behind decade after decade. The corporate controlled media then jumps in and trumpets how valuable the executives are based on their completely engineered salaries (because gosh darn it, if the CEOs weren't worth that much they wouldn't be getting paid that much) and people like Jim Cramer jump to their defense like a loaded spring when those stories are challenged for being the propaganda they are.

    In 1950 CEOs made 20-1 the average worker. In 1980 it was 42-1. In 2000 it was 120-1. In 2014 it is 204-1.

    This did not happen by happy accident. And it concentrated enormous wealth and power into the hands of a few, who then use it to control government policy. This is extremely dangerous to our Republic.

    Shatter these companies into a thousand pieces vis the no longer used Sherman Antitrust Act, and the world will know some peace. Don’t bother and it will only get worse from here until there is nothing left to salvage.
    Reply
  • alrighty_then
    A significant portion of CEO compensation is tied to company performance, often through stock options and bonuses. So, succes makes them rich. And, this aligns their interests with those of shareholders.

    Agreed it's shocking how much CEOs are paid, but it's no mystery how we got here. The system rewards success which is merit-based. The CEO profits, the company thrives, and the shareholders get rich. If the average employee has stock in the company, then they're happy too!
    Reply
  • Bigshrimp
    Greed begets greed and the twisted wheel keeps on turning. Over and over the rich get richer and we all suffer for it.
    Reply
  • Kamen Rider Blade
    LibertyWell said:
    These CEOs all sit on each others boards and vote themselves higher pay at the expense of their workers and shareholders. Every year their pay packages balloon a little more, with each new high watermark in compensation raising the yachts of all executives (because in CEO land, pay is based on what the other CEOs get) while the boat-less employees get left behind decade after decade. The corporate controlled media then jumps in and trumpets how valuable the executives are based on their completely engineered salaries (because gosh darn it, if the CEOs weren't worth that much they wouldn't be getting paid that much) and people like Jim Cramer jump to their defense like a loaded spring when those stories are challenged for being the propaganda they are.

    In 1950 CEOs made 20-1 the average worker. In 1980 it was 42-1. In 2000 it was 120-1. In 2014 it is 204-1.

    This did not happen by happy accident. And it concentrated enormous wealth and power into the hands of a few, who then use it to control government policy. This is extremely dangerous to our Republic.

    Shatter these companies into a thousand pieces vis the no longer used Sherman Antitrust Act, and the world will know some peace. Don’t bother and it will only get worse from here until there is nothing left to salvage.
    This is why Salary/Total Compensation caps should be legally put in place.
    No more than 9:1 For C-Suite : Average Worker Ratio.
    If the C-Suite wants more, than everybody under them needs to get more.

    alrighty_then said:
    A significant portion of CEO compensation is tied to company performance, often through stock options and bonuses. So, succes makes them rich. And, this aligns their interests with those of shareholders.

    Agreed it's shocking how much CEOs are paid, but it's no mystery how we got here. The system rewards success which is merit-based. The CEO profits, the company thrives, and the shareholders get rich. If the average employee has stock in the company, then they're happy too!
    I agree with merit based rewards.
    But Golden Parachutes should be outlawed.
    You don't reward those who fail or get fired.

    More Nintendo/Japanese style compensation structure where compensation cuts from the top down if the company performs bad financially.

    They only get their compensation restored if the company does well financially.

    Put these into law if you have to, to make it enforce-able
    Reply
  • derekullo
    LibertyWell said:
    These CEOs all sit on each others boards and vote themselves higher pay at the expense of their workers and shareholders. Every year their pay packages balloon a little more, with each new high watermark in compensation raising the yachts of all executives (because in CEO land, pay is based on what the other CEOs get) while the boat-less employees get left behind decade after decade. The corporate controlled media then jumps in and trumpets how valuable the executives are based on their completely engineered salaries (because gosh darn it, if the CEOs weren't worth that much they wouldn't be getting paid that much) and people like Jim Cramer jump to their defense like a loaded spring when those stories are challenged for being the propaganda they are.

    In 1950 CEOs made 20-1 the average worker. In 1980 it was 42-1. In 2000 it was 120-1. In 2014 it is 204-1.

    This did not happen by happy accident. And it concentrated enormous wealth and power into the hands of a few, who then use it to control government policy. This is extremely dangerous to our Republic.

    Shatter these companies into a thousand pieces vis the no longer used Sherman Antitrust Act, and the world will know some peace. Don’t bother and it will only get worse from here until there is nothing left to salvage.
    The US can't ever get Tiktok to shatter.
    In addition the US can't forcefully break up foreign companies ... might be considered an act of war.
    Reply
  • bolweval
    I would rather enjoy a banquet with 35 industry chefs, food would be AWESOME!
    Reply
  • spongiemaster
    derekullo said:
    The US can't ever get Tiktok to shatter.
    In addition the US can't forcefully break up foreign companies ... might be considered an act of war.
    None of these are the goal. The highest court has already ruled that the service can be blocked in the US and we already saw it was technically possible as TikTok jumped the gun by a couple hours before being given an extension. The US gov't doesn't care if other countries use TikTok nor are they trying to shut the company down.
    Reply
  • Giroro
    I don't know how I ever survived without these monthly reminders that obscenely wealthy people can sit in places that theoretically sell food, while a bunch of their staff people take pictures to spam out to news websites.

    Creepy Uncle Huang's PR army is really knocking it out of the park with this one. I'm on the edge of my seat wondering what restaurant he'll buy out for a single meal he doesn't actually eat, next month.

    Which, in all seriousness, is actually a major step up from sending out press releases of him hiring barely-legal girls to let him get uncomfortably close for "karaoke".
    Reply
  • why_wolf
    Giroro said:
    I don't know how I ever survived without these monthly reminders that obscenely wealthy people can sit in places that theoretically sell food, while a bunch of their staff people take pictures to spam out to news websites.

    Creepy Uncle Huang's PR army is really knocking it out of the park with this one. I'm on the edge of my seat wondering what restaurant he'll buy out for a single meal he doesn't actually eat, next month.

    Which, in all seriousness, is actually a major step up from sending out press releases of him hiring barely-legal girls to let him get uncomfortably close for "karaoke".
    Better question is why is waging this PR campaign so hard? Just pure Ego?
    Reply
  • artk2219
    bolweval said:
    I would rather enjoy a banquet with 35 industry chefs, food would be AWESOME!
    Perhaps, or it may end up being a case of "too many chefs in the kitchen"
    :sunglasses:. Ill see myself out.
    Reply