Who Owns NVIDIA: The Largest Shareholders Overview

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) was originally focused mainly on PC graphics. However, over time, it used its GPU architecture to create a platform for advanced computing, where most of today’s NVIDIA revenue comes from. Let’s look at who owns NVIDIA and who controls it.

NVIDIA’s largest shareholders are asset manager giants Vanguard, which owns 8.3% share, BlackRock (7.3%), and Fidelity (5.6%). Sizable stakes also belong to founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, who owns (3.5%) of the company.

NVIDIA's Largest Shareholders (Dec 2022)
	Shareholder	Ownership	Voting Power
	Vanguard	8.3%	8.3%
	BlackRock	7.3%	7.3%
	Fidelity	5.6%	5.6%
	Jen-Hsun Huang	3.5%	3.5%
	Mark Stevens	0.2%	0.2%
	Tench Coxe	0.2%	0.2%
	Other	74.9%	74.9%
Listed are shareholders holding >5% of any share class or notable in other ways
Source: Multiple SEC filings

In this article, I will dive more into who owns NVIDIA and who controls it. I will show you who NVIDIA’s largest shareholders are, how many shares and votes they have, and how much their stake is worth.

If you are interested, you can also explore who owns other companies like TSMC, Apple, IBM, and other articles in my “Who Owns Who” series.

📃 Who Owns NVIDIA?

NVIDIA is owned by its shareholders. The largest ones are asset managers Vanguard, which owns 8.3% of the company, BlackRock (7.3%), and Fidelity (5.6%). Co-founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang owns 3.5% of NVIDIA.

Let’s examine each top owner more closely, and I will share some additional interesting details about them.

The largest owners of NVIDIA are large asset managers Vanguard, which owns 8.3% of the company, BlackRock (7.3%), and Fidelity (5.6%)

• No shareholder has dominant ownership in the company.
• NVIDIA’s ownership is dispersed, and the largest owners are asset managers who invest money on behalf of their clients.
• Vanguard and BlackRock are the largest asset managers worldwide, and it is common to see them among top shareholders in large public companies with dispersed ownership.

The largest known individual NVIDIA owner is Jen-Hsun Huang, founder and CEO, which owns a 3.5% stake.

• Jen-Hsun Huang has been the company CEO and chairman since the beginning.
• His stake is relatively small but enough to make him the largest individual shareholder and billionaire.
• He owns only a small amount of shares directly. Most of his stake is owned through Jen-Hsun & Lori Huang Living Trust, of which he and his wife are co-trustees.

The notable owners are also company directors and venture capitalist Mark Stevens, which owns 0.2% of the company, and Tench Coxe, with 0.2% ownership.

• They are both company directors since early on, and their share is the result of stock awards and appreciation of company value over time.
• Their stake is small in percentages, but still, it is worth hundreds of millions of US dollars.

NVIDIA was founded in 1993 by Jen-Hsun Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem and has been a publicly listed company since its initial public offering on Nasdaq in 1999 (Ticker: NVDA).

• Of the three co-founders, only Jen-Hsun Huang is still at the company. The other two left a long time ago.
• It is not known if co-founders Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem still own any stake in the company.
• All three co-founders owned similar stakes of below 11% right after the IPO.
• Other large shareholders, except founders, after the IPO were Sequoia Capital and entities around Sutter Hill Ventures.

NVIDIA Corporation is incorporated in the State of Delaware (US), and its headquarters are in Santa Clara, California (US).

🎮 Who Controls NVIDIA (NVDA)?

NVIDIA’s shareholders with the largest voting power are asset managers Vanguard, which holds 8.3% of all votes, BlackRock, with 7.3% voting power, and Fidelity (5.6%). Sizable voting power also has founder and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang with 3.5% of all votes.

NVIDIA has only one class of outstanding shares, with one vote per share. Therefore, there is no difference between the shareholder’s ownership and voting power.

NVIDIA’s shareholders with the largest voting power are asset managers Vanguard (8.3%), BlackRock (7.3%), and Fidelity (5.6%). Together they hold 21.2% of all votes, which makes them a key player at shareholder meetings.

• None of them controls the company individually, but together they have a big influence.
• NVIDIA’s dispersed ownership combined with large stakes of asset managers creates conditions that give more power to company insiders.

NVIDIA’s shareholder with sizable voting power is also Jen-Hsun Huang, founder and CEO, holding 3.5% of all votes.

• Thanks to dispersed ownership, Huang’s voting power, combined with his position of CEO, chairman, and co-founder, gives him a large influence over the company.
• His stake is not very large as a % of all shares, but he is still the largest individual shareholder in the company.
• Co-founders Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem are no longer involved in the company and are not board members. It is unknown whether they still have some stake in the company and voting power.

Overall, company ownership is quite dispersed, and the largest shareholders are asset managers. Asset managers usually support the decisions of the management. Therefore the power over the company is mainly in the hand of CEO Jen-Hsun Huang, who is also a notable shareholder.

NVIDIA’s insiders that have influence over the company are CEO and chairman Jen-Hsun Huang and other board members and executives.

• NVIDIA has a 13-member board of directors reelected annually. The company had a classified board previously, but it was passed out in 2014.
• Nobody from the board of directors or executive officers, except Hunag, Coxe, and Stevens, hold more than 0.05% of NVIDIA’s shares.
• Most of the people on the board have some venture capital industry experience. Some of them are on the board from the beginning, and company stock awards made them very rich.

🗳️ Breakdown of NVIDIA’s Outstanding Shares and Votes by Top Shareholders

NVIDIA Corporation had a total of 2,466 million outstanding shares as of December 2022. The following table shows how many shares each NVIDIA’s large shareholder holds.

NVIDIA's Outstanding Shares by Shareholder
In millions of shares as of December 2022
	Shareholder	Class A	Total	% Share
	Vanguard	205	205	8.3%
	BlackRock	180	180	7.3%
	Fidelity	139	139	5.6%
	Jen-Hsun Huang	86	86	3.5%
	Mark Stevens	6	6	0.2%
	Tench Coxe	4	4	0.2%
	Other	1,847	1,847	74.9%
	Total (# millions)	2,466	2,466	100.0%
Listed are shareholders holding >5% of any share class or notable in other ways
Source: Multiple SEC filings

There were 2,466 million votes distributed among shareholders of NVIDIA Corporation. The table below shows the total number of votes for each large shareholder.

NVIDIA's Vote Control by Shareholder
In millions of votes as of December 2022
	Shareholder	Class A	Total	% Share
	Vanguard	205	205	8.3%
	BlackRock	180	180	7.3%
	Fidelity	139	139	5.6%
	Jen-Hsun Huang	86	86	3.5%
	Mark Stevens	6	6	0.2%
	Tench Coxe	4	4	0.2%
	Other	1,847	1,847	74.9%
	Total (# millions)	2,466	2,466	100.0%
Listed are shareholders holding >5% of any share class or notable in other ways
Source: Multiple SEC filings

💵 Breakdown of NVIDIA’s Market Value by Shareholder

The following table summarizes how much is each shareholder’s stake in NVIDIA Corporation worth.

However, keep in mind that a stake in NVIDIA could be just one part of their portfolio, and their total worth could be bigger, thanks to other investments. It could also be lower if they have debts.

NVIDIA's Market Value by Shareholder
Market value in billions $ as of December 2022
	Shareholder	Class A	Total	% Share
	Vanguard	$29.9	$29.9	8.3%
	BlackRock	$26.3	$26.3	7.3%
	Fidelity	$20.3	$20.3	5.6%
	Jen-Hsun Huang	$12.6	$12.6	3.5%
	Mark Stevens	$0.8	$0.8	0.2%
	Tench Coxe	$0.6	$0.6	0.2%
	Other	$269.9	$269.9	74.9%
	Total ($ billions)	$360.4	$360.4	100.0%
Listed are shareholders holding >5% of any share class or notable in other ways
Source: Multiple SEC filings

Let’s now look at each NVIDIA shareholder individually.

📒 Who Are NVIDIA’s Largest Shareholders?

Let’s now go through the list of the largest shareholders of NVIDIA Corporation one by one and look at who they are, how many shares they own, what is their voting power, and how much is their stake in NVIDIA worth.

#1 Vanguard (8.3%)

Vanguard is the largest shareholder of NVIDIA, owning 8.3% of its shares. As of December 2022, the market value of Vanguard’s stake in NVIDIA was $29.9 billion.

Vanguard owned 205 million shares in NVIDIA and controlled 205 million shareholder votes as of December 2022.

Vanguard (The Vanguard Group) is one of the largest asset managers in the world. It manages other people’s money through its mutual funds and exchange-traded funds and also offers other related investing and financial planning services.

Vanguard differs from other large asset managers by having no actual “owner .” Officially Vanguard says that its investors own it since its funds own it, and Vanguard fund investors own those funds.

However, the actual decision power is in the hands of Vanguard’s insiders since the ownership is diluted over millions of investors worldwide.

Vanguard has significant influence over the largest public companies. Thanks to its size, Vanguard usually belongs to the largest shareholders in those companies and has considerable power at their shareholder meetings. This is especially true if ownership is diluted.

• Several terms were coined to describe this issue. Some call it asset manager capitalism, and popular is also the power of twelve. Financial Times even put together who exactly those twelve people might be.
• Evidence shows that big asset managers usually vote together with management.

#2 BlackRock (7.3%)

BlackRock is the second-largest shareholder of NVIDIA, owning 7.3% of its shares. As of December 2022, the market value of BlackRock’s stake in NVIDIA was $26.3 billion.

BlackRock owned 180 million shares in NVIDIA and controlled 180 million shareholder votes as of December 2022.

BlackRock, Inc. is the world’s largest asset manager, with assets under management of $10 trillion. BlackRock is not only an asset manager, but it also provides other asset managers and corporations with its Aladdin portfolio management software.

BlackRock is a publicly traded company, and its largest shareholders are its competitors, including BlackRock itself. Not directly but through their passive and active funds. The largest shareholder is Vanguard.

A similar situation is also true in the opposite direction because BlackRock is a significant shareholder in many of its publicly traded competitors and other large institutions, making the whole thing even more eyebrow-raising.

This circular ownership between Vanguard, BlackRock, and other large asset managers, amplifies the issue often raised about the power of these large asset managers over public companies since they usually belong to the most significant shareholders with large voting power.

• In the case of Blackrock, this influence is personified in the form of its CEO Larry Fink, who is a powerful figure with close ties to the FED and the US government.

• Adding to these concerns is evidence that BlackRock and other asset managers usually vote in favor of management proposals.

#3 Fidelity (5.6%)

Fidelity is the third-largest shareholder of NVIDIA, owning 5.6% of its shares. As of December 2022, the market value of Fidelity’s stake in NVIDIA was $20.3 billion.

Fidelity owned 139 million shares in NVIDIA and controlled 139 million shareholder votes as of December 2022.

Fidelity (FMR LLC) is one of the four largest asset managers in the world, together with BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street. Fidelity is controlled by the Jonhson family, holding 49% of the voting power.

Fidelity is currently managed by Abigail Johnson after her father, Edward Johnson III, died in 2022.

An interesting fact is that in 2004 Abigail pulled a pretty bold move on her further when she tried to oust him from the company. The attempt was unsuccessful then, but she holds the reins now.

Like other large asset managers, Fidelity is not free from potential conflicts of interest.

#4 Jen-Hsun Huang (3.5%)

Jen-Hsun Huang owns 3.5% of NVIDIA’s shares. As of December 2022, the market value of Jen-Hsun Huang’s stake in NVIDIA was $12.6 billion.

Jen-Hsun Huang owned 86 million shares in NVIDIA and controlled 86 million shareholder votes as of December 2022.

Jen-Hsun Huang is the co-founder and long-time CEO of Nvidia. With Huang at the helm, Nvidia has become a driving force in artificial intelligence and gaming.

Born in Tainan, Taiwan, his family migrated to the United States when he was just a child. After earning his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Oregon State University, Huang worked at LSI Logic and AMD. In 1992, he earned his master’s degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

He co-founded Nvidia in 1993 and has served as the company’s president, chief executive officer, and chairman since its inception.

#5 Mark Stevens (0.2%)

Mark Stevens owns 0.2% of NVIDIA’s shares. As of December 2022, the market value of Mark Stevens’s stake in NVIDIA was $0.8 billion.

Mark Stevens owned 6 million shares in NVIDIA and controlled 6 million shareholder votes as of December 2022.

Mark Stevens is a prominent venture capitalist and billionaire, currently serving as the managing partner of S-Cubed Capital in Menlo Park, California.

After spending some time at Intel, Stevens made his mark during his stint at Sequoia Capital which he joined in 1989. While he was there, Sequoia worked on some of its most successful investments, including Google, Yahoo, Nvidia, and YouTube.

In 2012, he left Sequoia and joined S-Cubed Capital, where he is currently based. Despite this move, he remains a special limited partner at Sequoia.

Beyond his work in venture capital, Stevens has also invested in the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, buying a stake in the team in 2013.

#6 Tench Coxe (0.2%)

Tench Coxe owns 0.2% of NVIDIA’s shares. As of December 2022, the market value of Tench Coxe’s stake in NVIDIA was $0.6 billion.

Tench Coxe owned 4 million shares in NVIDIA and controlled 4 million shareholder votes as of December 2022.

Tench Coxe is a venture capitalist and billionaire. He is a former managing director at Sutter Hill Ventures. He spent a significant portion of his career with the company until 2020 when he left.

🧱 Who and When Founded NVIDIA?

NVIDIA was founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem, who saw an opportunity to create a company that would revolutionize the gaming industry and advance computing.

In the early 1990s, the computer gaming industry was in its infancy, and the graphics processing technology available was limited. In 1993, NVIDIA was born, with Huang becoming the CEO.

The company’s early years were focused on developing graphics processing units (GPUs) for personal computers. In 1999, NVIDIA went public on NASDAQ. That same year, it released the GeForce 256 GPU, the first GPU for personal computers, and offered superior three-dimensional graphics quality.

In the years that followed, NVIDIA continued to innovate, developing new GPU architectures that could be used for scientific computing, AI, data science, AV, robotics, and metaverse applications. Today, NVIDIA is a global leader in GPU-based computing and networking solutions, and it now earns more revenue from its non-graphic-focused products.

While Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem left NVIDIA long ago, Huang remained at the helm and drove the company’s continued growth and success. Under his leadership, NVIDIA has transformed from a small graphics processing company to a global technology giant with over $500 billion in market capitalization.

📅 NVIDIA’s History Timeline

These are selected events from NVIDIA’s history:

1990s

• 1993: NVIDIA was founded by Jensen Huang, Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem. Huang became CEO and has kept this position ever since.
• 1997: NVIDIA launched the RIVA series of graphics processors and became a major force in the computer gaming industry.
• 1999: NVIDIA went public on NASDAQ.
• 1999: NVIDIA released the GeForce 256 GPU, the first GPU for personal computers, which offered superior three-dimensional graphics quality.

2000s

• 2000: NVIDIA acquired 3dfx Interactive’s remaining assets.
• 2000: Microsoft selected NVIDIA to develop graphics cards for Microsoft’s long-awaited Xbox video game console.
• 2000: Release of GeForce2 GTS
• 2002: Nvidia acquired Exluna.
• 2003: Nvidia acquired MediaQ.
• 2003: Co-founder Curtis Priem left the company.
• 2004: Nvidia acquired iReady.
• 2004: Nvidia acquired ULI Electronics.
• 2006: NVIDIA unveiled the CUDA® architecture, opening parallel processing capabilities of GPUs to science and research.
• 2006: Nvidia acquired Hybrid Graphics.
• 2006: Nvidia received subpoenas from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding possible antitrust violations in the graphics card industry.
• 2008: Nvidia took a write-down of approximately $200 million due to manufacturing defects causing abnormal failure rates in certain mobile chipsets and GPUs, leading to a class action lawsuit.
• 2008: Nvidia acquired Ageia.

2010s

• 2010: Nvidia reached a settlement to reimburse owners of laptops affected by the aforementioned manufacturing defects.
• 2011: Nvidia agreed to acquire Icera, a baseband chip-making company in the UK.
• 2011: Nvidia released its Tegra 3 ARM system-on-a-chip for mobile devices.
• 2013: Nvidia unveiled the Tegra 4 and the Nvidia Shield.
• 2013: Nvidia acquired PGI from STMicroelectronics.
• 2014: The closed nature of Nvidia’s drivers has generated dissatisfaction within free-software communities.
• 2016: Nvidia unveiled the first GPUs of the GeForce 10 series, the GTX 1080 and 1070.
• 2016: Nvidia settled a false advertising lawsuit regarding its GTX 970 model.
• 2016: Nvidia developed Nvidia Tesla K80 and P100 GPU-based virtual machines available through Google Cloud and AWS
• 2017: Nvidia announced a partnership with Toyota to use Nvidia’s Drive PX-series artificial intelligence platform for its autonomous vehicles.
• 2017: Nvidia and Chinese search giant Baidu announced a far-reaching AI partnership.
• 2018: NVIDIA reinvented computer graphics with NVIDIA RTX™, the first GPU capable of real-time ray tracing.
• 2018: Nvidia failed to disclose that crypto mining was a significant element of its revenue growth from sales of chips designed for gaming.
• 2019 Nvidia announced a deal to buy Mellanox Technologies for $6.9 billion to substantially expand its footprint in the high-performance computing market.

2020s

• 2020: Nvidia’s announced it would acquire Arm from SoftBank for $40 billion.
• 2021: UK’s Competition and Markets Authority raised “significant competition concerns” about the proposed Arm acquisition.
• 2022: SoftBank, the parent company of Arm, and Nvidia announced they “had agreed not to move forward with the transaction ‘because of significant regulatory challenges.”
• 2022: Nvidia’s CEO mentioned that they are open to having Intel manufacture their chips in the future.

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Other Resources

• NVIDIA’s Annual Financials Statements (K-10)
• NVIDIA’s Proxy Statement
• NVIDIA’s Certificate of Incorporation

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