Jensen Huang – "No Job Is Beneath Me": From Toilet Cleaner to CEO of the World's Most Valuable Company
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A young Taiwanese boy immigrated to America at age 9, only to face racial discrimination and bullying at a boarding school. He volunteered to clean toilets when others refused, and worked as a dishwasher and waiter at a family restaurant to pay for school. The company he founded on his 30th birthday faced its first product failure and was "30 days from bankruptcy," but he never gave up. Jensen Huang (1963~), CEO of NVIDIA – the company that reached #1 market cap in 2024 and surpassed $5 trillion (approximately 7,000 trillion won) in 2025. Let's discover lessons our family can share from the story of a man who said, "I wanted to be the best at everything I do."
1️⃣ Core Beliefs and Background
"I Became the World's Best Toilet Cleaner"
Jensen Huang was born on February 17, 1963, in Tainan, Taiwan, to an engineer father and an English teacher mother. When he was five, his family moved to Thailand. In 1973, amid the chaos of Thailand's democracy movement, his parents decided to send 9-year-old Jensen and his brother to America.
Life in America, however, was far from easy. Jensen enrolled at the Oneida Baptist Institute, a boarding school in Kentucky, only to discover it was a rough place where every student carried a pocketknife. Being called "chink" instead of his name, he experienced racial discrimination and bullying, and even narrowly escaped being stabbed.
But Jensen refused to give up. His core belief was "to be the best at everything I do." He volunteered to clean toilets when others avoided the task, and helped classmates with their homework using his strength in mathematics to overcome the bullying.
"I cleaned toilets. I cleaned a lot of toilets. I probably cleaned more toilets than all of you combined. That's life."
Jensen says this experience taught him the value of hard work. He graduated high school two years early, earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Oregon State University, and completed his master's degree at Stanford University.
2️⃣ The Evolution of His Business Empire
The AI Revolution That Started at Denny's Restaurant
1993: Founding on His 30th Birthday
After working as a microprocessor designer at AMD, Jensen co-founded NVIDIA with two colleagues on his 30th birthday in 1993. They discussed their startup ideas at Denny's – the same family restaurant where Jensen had worked as a dishwasher and waiter during his school years. Three gaming enthusiasts dreamed of creating dedicated graphics chips for better gaming experiences.
1995-1996: The Crossroads of Failure and Survival
Their first graphics chip, the NV1, launched in 1995, was completely rejected by the market. When Microsoft announced a different industry standard, NVIDIA's technology faced obsolescence. In 1996, Jensen started every morning meeting by saying, "Our company is 30 days from bankruptcy."
1999: The Birth of the GPU and the Turnaround
Rising from the crisis, they launched the GeForce 256 in 1999, coining the term "GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)" for the first time in the world. South Korea's PC bang (internet cafΓ©) boom and the massive popularity of StarCraft became NVIDIA's lifeline. Jensen personally visited Yongsan Electronics Market in Seoul to pitch sales, and Korean PC bangs became NVIDIA's core market.
2020s: The Throne of the AI Era
By adapting their gaming GPU technology for AI and deep learning, NVIDIA emerged as the central company of the AI era. In June 2024, they achieved the world's highest market capitalization, and in October 2025, they surpassed $5 trillion, becoming the most valuable company in human history.
3️⃣ How He Overcame Failure
"Once You Succeed, Everyone Stops Fearing Failure"
Being Honest with SEGA
When Jensen realized during NV2 development that their technical direction was wrong, he went directly to SEGA's CEO with complete honesty:
"We cannot fulfill this contract. However, please pay us the full contract amount of $5 million. Otherwise, our company will go bankrupt."
Impressed by his bold honesty, SEGA provided the $5 million as an investment, allowing NVIDIA to pivot and develop new technology.
The Letter from Chairman Lee Kun-hee
In 1996, when Jensen was an unknown CEO whose company was being ignored by the market, he received a letter from Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee. It expressed his vision to "connect Korea with high-speed internet and change the world through video games." Both men foresaw the future potential of graphics cards, and in 1999, the GeForce with Samsung's GDDR memory was born.
Korean PC Bangs Saved NVIDIA
During his 2025 visit to Korea, Jensen Huang said:
"Without Korea's PC bangs and e-sports, NVIDIA wouldn't exist today. PC bangs were our laboratory and market – the living ground where technology came alive."
Never Losing Humility
Even while leading the world's greatest company, Jensen never forgets his days as a toilet cleaner:
"I was someone who cleaned toilets, and now I'm the CEO of a company. No job is beneath me."
π¬ Discussion Questions for Families
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When Jensen Huang was bullied at boarding school, he overcame it by volunteering to clean toilets and helping friends with their homework. Why might "doing things others avoid" help in difficult situations?
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NVIDIA faced a crisis of being "30 days from bankruptcy" after their first product failed. What mindset is needed to change direction and try again without giving up after failure?
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Jensen Huang said, "I wanted to be the best at everything I do." Among the things you're currently doing (studying, household chores, hobbies, etc.), how might things change if you approached them with the mindset of "becoming the best"?
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#JensenHuang #NVIDIA #AIRevolution #GPU #Entrepreneurship #SelfMadeSuccess #FamilyDiscussion #TechLeader



