Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang gets first pay raise in a decade
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang got a raise for the first time in 10 years. Here’s how much he earns, compared to employees.
Base Salary Increased After 10 Years
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, long recognized as one of the tech industry’s most influential leaders, has received his first base salary increase in a decade. According to a new proxy filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Huang’s annual salary rose by 50% in fiscal year 2025 to $1.5 million, up from $996,800, a figure that had remained unchanged since 2014.
The company’s compensation committee defended the raise as “appropriate,” citing salary benchmarks from comparable companies. For instance, AMD CEO Lisa Su began receiving a base salary of $1.26 million as of July 2024.
Massive Compensation Growth
While Huang’s salary has remained flat for years, his total compensation has grown significantly, reflecting Nvidia’s exponential rise in valuation and dominance in the AI and semiconductor sectors. For fiscal year 2025, his total compensation reached $49.9 million, including:
- $38.8 million in stock awards
- $6 million through a non-equity incentive plan
- $3.5 million for residential security, driver services, and other personal expenses
CEO-to-Employee Pay Ratio
The filing also revealed that the median Nvidia employee earned $301,233 in the same year, resulting in a CEO-to-median-employee pay ratio of 166:1. This disparity is notably higher than at some other tech giants. For example, Google CEO Sundar Pichai earned $10.7 million in 2024 — just 32 times the median employee salary of $331,894.
Rising Trend in Executive Pay
Huang’s total compensation has steadily increased over recent years:
- $21.4 million in fiscal 2023
- $34.2 million in fiscal 2024
- $49.9 million in fiscal 2025
This upward trend mirrors Nvidia’s financial success and growing role in powering AI infrastructure worldwide. Despite the high compensation, Huang remains deeply vested in the company’s future, still holding a 3.4% stake in Nvidia, which makes him a multibillionaire.