In 2007, Jensen Huang Donated $12 Million Worth Of Nvidia Stock To His Foundation… Guess How That's Turned Out

In 2007, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and his wife, Lori, donated 370,000 shares of Nvidia stock to launch their private charitable foundation. At the time, Nvidia was a rising but still relatively niche semiconductor company, best known for powering graphics cards in high-end gaming rigs. When they donated, the gifted shares were worth $12.6 million thanks to Nvidia's then-market cap of around $15 billion. The Huangs' gift was generous, but not particularly attention-grabbing in the world of big-ticket philanthropy.

Fast-forward to today, and NVIDIA is no longer a niche player—it's the most valuable company in the world, with a market capitalization of $4 trillion. The company's dominance in artificial intelligence and data center computing has catapulted its valuation past the biggest names in tech. That meteoric rise hasn't just made Jensen Huang one of the wealthiest people alive (#11 by our latest count), it's also transformed the foundation he and Lori quietly launched nearly two decades ago into a financial juggernaut.

Despite having little public visibility, no website, and minimal staff, the foundation now sits in the same league as legacy institutions like the Rockefeller Foundation and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. It now ranks among the 15 largest foundations in America. Here's a photo of Jensen with his family in May 2007, right around the time they made the donation (from left to right, daughter Madison, wife Lori, Jensen, and son Spencer):

Jensun with his family, Madison, Lori, and Spencer in 2007 (Thu Hoang Ly/Mercury News) (Photo by MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)

The Original Gift

The foundation was seeded in 2007 with a donation of 370,000 NVIDIA shares, worth $12.6 million at the time. Rather than donate cash, the Huangs contributed shares in a company they believed in—a company that would go on to define the modern AI era.

Over the next 17 years, NVIDIA stock exploded. Thanks to the company's dominance in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data center computing, those original 370,000 shares—after accounting for stock splits and appreciation—are now worth more than $2.6 billion at a $4 trillion market cap. And the Huangs didn't stop there. According to public filings, they have continued to donate NVIDIA stock through their family trust. In June 2025, they contributed another 440,000 shares worth an estimated $60 million at the time of transfer.

From Modest Office To Mega Foundation

As of the end of 2023, the foundation held 68.5 million shares of NVIDIA, according to its most recent filings. Back then, with NVIDIA hovering around a $3.5 trillion valuation, those holdings were estimated at $9.2 billion. At today's $4 trillion market cap, those same 68.5 million shares are now worth approximately $11.2 billion.

That rise places the Huang Foundation in the elite class of U.S. philanthropy, despite operating with what appears to be near-zero overhead. In 2023, the foundation had no full-time staff and no digital presence. A press release from February 2025 mentioned a newly appointed chief operating officer, but the organization has not responded to media inquiries or provided further detail.

Where the Money Is Going

Like many tech-driven foundations, the Huangs have leaned heavily on donor-advised funds (DAFs) as an initial vehicle for giving. In 2023, 77% of the foundation's disbursements — about $46 million — went to a Schwab-managed DAF. These accounts are popular among wealthy donors because they allow for an immediate tax deduction while delaying the actual deployment of funds. DAFs are not legally required to distribute assets on any specific timetable, nor do they need to publicly report where grants ultimately go.

The Huangs have also made a few high-profile gifts directly from the foundation. In 2022, they pledged $50 million to Oregon State University, their alma mater. And in early 2025, they announced the $22.5 million grant to California College of the Arts. But as the foundation's assets continue to grow, so too will the required level of giving. Private foundations must distribute at least 5% of their assets annually. Based on FoundationMark's projections, that means the Huangs will need to give away at least $369 million this year.

What Happens Next

Let's say Nvidia's market cap triples over the next decade, rising to $10 trillion. That's not outside the realm of possibility if the company maintains its dominance in AI hardware, data centers, autonomous systems, and future computing platforms. If the Huang Foundation simply held onto its current 68.5 million shares, those shares alone would be worth more than $30 billion. Add in future donations and potential appreciation of assets already sitting in donor-advised funds, and it's plausible the foundation could surpass $35 billion in total assets.

At that level, the Huang Foundation would be approaching the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which currently has about $67 billion in assets but was built over decades by both Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. If Nvidia reaches $10 trillion and the Huangs keep donating stock along the way, it's entirely possible their foundation could become the second-largest — or even the single largest — private foundation in the world.

Of course, that assumes the market continues rewarding Nvidia. It also assumes the Huangs remain comfortable with keeping so much philanthropic firepower tied to one company. But if those conditions hold, the quiet little foundation they seeded in 2007 might not just rival the Rockefellers — it could eclipse them all.

And in the process, Jensen and Lori Huang may end up turning one of the greatest wealth-creation stories in tech history into one of the most impactful acts of philanthropy the world has ever seen.