Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, may be the most diligent executive in existence. In his quest for constant innovation and expansion, Huang, the CEO of the now $4.2 trillion tech giant—worth more than Meta and Amazon put together—has all but given up on work-life balance. “I work from the time I get up until I go to bed. In an interview with Stripe CEO Patrick Collison that has recently made a comeback online, Huang admitted, “I work seven days a week.”
Huang acknowledges that his thoughts return to his work even when he is watching a movie. His idea of downtime isn’t relaxation; rather, it’s envisioning Nvidia’s future and what might come next. Nvidia’s stock has risen 1,600% in the last five years due to this obsessive mentality. However, Huang spends a lot of time imagining how the business will develop rather than merely sitting in boardrooms or answering calls. There are moments when you’re envisioning the future. “You’re dreaming, you’re fantasising,” he said.
One of Huang’s most audacious ideas is to turn Nvidia into a “giant AI,” where artificial intelligence is used to optimise and automate every procedure. He thinks that might finally bring about the elusive balance he has long sacrificed. How wonderful would that be? After that, I’ll have a healthy work-life balance.
Huang seems to have a company-wide all-in culture at Nvidia. Former workers told Bloomberg that working past midnight was commonplace and that grinding past regular hours was the norm. According to reports, engineers put in even more hours, and during meetings, internal tension occasionally erupted into yelling contests. The company’s rapid growth and high compensation, however, made it difficult for many employees to leave despite the demanding work environment.
Huang admits that he is a difficult boss. “It shouldn’t be easy if you want to do extraordinary things,” he said last year on 60 Minutes. His story illustrates a more general reality that is shared by other corporate executives: excellence frequently necessitates imbalance. “If you want to be excellent… there’s going to be times when you’re just working and you’re single-minded,” as former President Obama famously stated. Or, as Lucy Gao of Scale AI stated, “If you feel the need for work-life balance, maybe you’re not in the right work.”