We’re only halfway through 2024, but one tech stock in particular has stood out in an intensely competitive environment.
Artificial intelligence (AI) stocks are the figurehead Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) have climbed about 150% in the first six months of the year. The company has grown by nearly $2 trillion in market capitalization and recently joined Microsoft And Apple as the third company to surpass a market capitalization of $3 trillion.
With Nvidia garnering so much attention from Wall Street and retail investors alike, you might be wondering who has benefited the most from the company’s meteoric rise — and whether now is the time for you to join them by adding it to your portfolio.
Which employees own the most Nvidia shares?
Nvidia went 10 for 1 stock split earlier this month. This means that Nvidia’s outstanding share count increased 10-fold while its stock price fell by the same multiple, leaving the company’s valuation unchanged.
After the split, Nvidia now has about 25 billion shares outstanding. The table below shows which employees own the most shares in the company.
Employee | Title | Shares held | % Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|
Jen-Hsun “Jensen” Huang | General manager | 866.3 million | 3.5% |
Colette Kress | Financial director | 6.1 million | 0.02% |
Deborah Shoquist | Executive Vice President, Operations | 2.4 million | 0.01% |
Jay Puri | Executive Vice President, Global Field Operations | 1.5 million | < 0.01% |
Team Teter | Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary | 1.1 million | No material |
Data source: Bloomberg.
Jensen Huang is by far Nvidia’s largest inside shareholder. While it’s common for CEOs to hold significant stakes in their companies, Huang’s position stands out for a few reasons.
Not only is he the CEO, but he’s also one of Nvidia’s three co-founders and has been with the company for three decades. Generally speaking, company founders are among their largest shareholders. And while a 3.5% stake may not seem like much for a founder, keep in mind that Nvidia is worth over $3 trillion. As of this writing, Huang’s roughly 866 million shares are worth about $108 billion.
Besides management, who else is a major shareholder in Nvidia?
Beyond Nvidia’s leadership, a number of board members are also significant stock holders.
Mark Stevens is the second largest individual shareholder of Nvidia stock behind Huang. Stevens spent time in management Intel and later became a venture capitalist. Since joining Nvidia’s board in 2008, Stevens has amassed nearly 40 million shares, a stake worth nearly $5 billion.
Other notable venture capitalists on Nvidia’s board include Harvey Jones, Tench Coxe and Brooke Seawell. Each joined its board in the 1990s and collectively accumulated about 16 million shares.
Should you become a shareholder of Nvidia?
Many of Nvidia’s largest shareholders have worked at the company or served on its board for a long time. In many cases, these executives have accumulated their stakes over decades.
Take one of the other co-founders, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis PriemFor example. Priem left Nvidia in 2003 and reportedly sold all of his shares in 2006. After donating hundreds of millions of dollars to charity over the years, his net worth is now estimated at around $30 million. That’s not bad, but if he had held on to his shares, Priem’s net worth would be in the tens of billions of dollars today.
Another previous Nvidia investor was the Japanese holding company SoftBank. It sold its stake in 2019. If SoftBank had retained its position, its stake in Nvidia would be worth around $160 billion today.
The point I’m trying to make is that owning hot stocks alone is not enough to generate wealth. Investors should have strong conviction in the company’s direction, its business prospects, and the markets in which the company operates. If you feel this way about Nvidia, the title might be for you.
However, I encourage investors to monitor the activity over time and double down if appropriate. It is entirely possible to build a small fortune by owning winning stocks, and the best way to do so is almost always to hold them for a long time.
Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now?
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Adam Spatacco has positions in Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Halfway through 2024, Nvidia has increased its market cap by almost $2 trillion: here’s who owns the most shares was originally published by The Motley Fool
