- President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration is slated to be full of big business CEOs.
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang isn’t among them — he’s celebrating the Lunar New Year in Asia.
- Huang met with tech executives and attended local celebrations in Taiwan over the weekend.
Many of Silicon Valley’s tech titans are preparing to attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration today — but not Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
On Friday, Huang was in Taiwan, where he told reporters he would not be at Trump’s inauguration as he would be celebrating the Lunar New Year with employees.
“The year-end holiday is very important to us because the employees work hard and it’s my chance to thank everyone,” Huang said, referring to the celebrations ahead of the Lunar New Year, which begins on Jan. 29.
Huang also told reporters that he has not spoken to the incoming Trump administration, but looks forward to congratulating the team.
During his visit to Taiwan, Huang attended year-end celebrations at Nvidia and Wistron, a Taiwanese supplier, according to local media reports.
He also hosted a lunch with technology leaders, including TSMC Chairman CC Wei and Foxconn Chairman Young Liu, highlighting the key role Taiwan plays in the world’s technology supply chain amid geopolitical tensions with Beijing, which claims that the island is his territory.
Huang’s trip to Taiwan also included a visit to his regular hair salon, stops at night markets and dinner plans at the residence of TSMC founder Morris Chang. Huang left Taipei on Sunday morning and is in China, according to local media reports.
An Nvidia spokesperson told Business Insider that it does not comment on the travel schedules of its company executives.
Last year, Huang was also in Asia celebrating the Lunar New Year in China.
‘Jensanity’ in Taiwan
Huang’s 55-hour visit to Taiwan sparked excitement on the island, where he was engulfed by media and fans clamoring for his autograph.
Seen as the local boy who made good, Taiwan-born Huang is a star in Taiwan. The phenomenon has been coined “Jensanity”.
During a visit to the island in June, Huang was greeted by a rock star and even signed a woman’s breast. On Halloween, at least one Taiwanese child dressed up as Huang, with his mother telling BI at the time that her 5-year-old son knew he was “dressed up as a very extraordinary person.”
Huang has also become a tech celebrity, with his memo writing style, fashion senseAND organizational style becoming a topic of discussion.
Nvidia is the leading maker of AI chips – a key domain in which the US and China are competing. The company’s stock price has skyrocketed in the past two years.
Nvidia is now one of the most valuable companies in the world, with a market capitalization of $3.4 trillion. Huang is the 12th richest person in the world, with the Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimating his net worth at $117 billion.
Shares of Nvidia closed 3.1% higher on Friday. They are up 2.6% from last year and 131% higher over the past year.
US tech leaders prepare for Trump 2.0
Trump’s four-day inauguration celebration began on January 18.
Top tech executives — including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Tesla’s Elon Musk, Google’s Sundar Pichai and TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew — are expected to be at Trump’s inauguration.
The inauguration has also attracted donations from tech giants. Google and Meta each donated $1 million to the event.
Earlier this month, Huang said he had yet to meet Trump but would be “delighted” to receive an invitation to visit. Mar-a-LagoTrump’s Palm Beach resort.
Nvidia declined to comment to BI on whether the company or Huang donated to Trump’s inauguration.
Trump’s inauguration also coincides with the first day of Davos in Switzerland, which attracts business and state heads from around the world.
