Tech industry employees have debated the company’s compensation policy, led by Jensen Huang, and those at Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta and Sundar Pichai’s Google, among others.
On Blind, an anonymous forum for software and technology professionals, a former Googler asked Nvidia employees, “How rich are you guys?”
One NVIDIA employee, who said his net worth is about $3 million, responded that employee wealth “really varies by level.”
The person added that he has $3 million left in unvested assets and feels “very relieved.”
“I bought a $100,000 family car with cash and no thought required,” the post continued. “Thank you JHH.”
The man, who said the car he bought was a “luxurious” BMW X7, added that he had been promoted to Ic6, or chief engineer, within the past year.
Another user, who said in his profile that he works for Snap, wrote: “My wife and I are 32 and worth $14.8 million. Neither of us work at NVDA, but we live in the Bay Area and have some old friends there.
“Each one of them is worth over $25 million. It’s unbelievable.”
Another user, whose profile indicates that he works at Meta, commented: “The more I hear about Nvidia employees and their wealth, the more jealous I get. Does anyone else feel the same way?”
Meta and Google did not immediately respond to Fortune’s requests for comment.
Why are Nvidia’s staff so wealthy?
Nvidia’s employee wealth has soared thanks to the company’s soaring stock price and the lucrative stock incentives for which the company has become famous.
Nvidia’s employee stock purchase plan allows employees to contribute up to 15% of their salary and buy stock in the company at a 15% discount.
According to Tay Kim, senior technology writer at Barron’s, this has led to some notable stories, including one in which a mid-level employee who had been buying stock for 18 years reportedly left the company with $62 million worth of stock.
In particular, in recent years, NVIDIA’s stock price has skyrocketed, and along with it, the net worth of employees and shareholders such as CEO Huang has also soared.
In October 2022, Nvidia’s stock was trading at around $14 per share, but has now risen to around $130 per share.
Hwang’s net worth, largely due to his investments in semiconductor giants, has been growing: As of October 2022, it was just over $11 billion, but as of writing, his fortune is valued at $112 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, making him the 12th richest person in the world.
His 3.8% stake in the company is so large that he can sell hundreds of thousands of shares, worth an average of $14 million, almost daily without any significant impact on the market or his holdings.
Nvidia did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
Nvidia Culture
With billionaire status at stake for Nvidia employees, it may come as no surprise that a lot is expected of them on the job.
In an interview with “60 Minutes” published this spring, Hwang was quoted as saying some of the words his team used to describe him, including “demanding,” “a perfectionist” and “not easy to work with.”
Huang said these descriptions “perfectly” apply to him, explaining: “That’s how it should be. If you want to do something extraordinary, it shouldn’t be easy.”
Employees at the Santa Clara, California-based company seem to enjoy their work-life balance.
Another user, who lists herself as working at Nvidia on her profile, wrote on Blind, adding that the experience of working at the company “depends on the team.”
They explained: “I work from 10am to 5pm on weekdays, and have one or two evening meetings a week for overseas collaboration.
“And then there are people who can work from home any day of the week. Some of my teammates do that.”
