A $5 Million Gift From Sega Saved Nvidia

Nvidia is currently the most valuable company globally, exceeding $4 trillion in market value, largely due to the recent surge in artificial intelligence. However, its success wasn’t always a certainty.

Nvidia CEO and co-founder Jensen Huang recently shared that a $5 million investment after a failed deal with Sega was crucial to the company’s survival. This funding allowed the young company to continue operating and ultimately grow into the success it is today.

During an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang shared a story about the company’s early days. In the 1990s, he and his co-founders attempted to get business for their new PC company by traveling to Japan. They proposed to Sega that Nvidia could manufacture the Dreamcast console.

Nvidia couldn’t fulfill Sega’s requirements, leading Sega to work with VideoLogic on the Dreamcast instead. Despite this setback, Nvidia’s CEO, Huang, still demanded the remaining $5 million Sega owed them. He proposed Sega pay it as an investment, but honestly conceded that the money would likely be a loss for Nvidia due to a lack of potential returns.

According to Huang, if Sega hadn’t invested, Nvidia would have failed. Sega’s leadership told him that even with the $5 million, the company was unlikely to survive, and Huang later confirmed that assessment was accurate.

So, apparently a big shot at Sega just liked Jensen, our CEO, and decided to invest in us. It was honestly that simple! He just saw potential in a young guy. And honestly, when we were starting out, Jensen said there was practically no way we could pay Sega back – like a zero percent chance. It was a pretty risky move on their part, but we’re definitely grateful it worked out!

As a longtime fan, it’s amazing to hear how Nvidia got its start! Apparently, Sega invested $5 million way back when, helping Nvidia grow into the gaming giant it is today. It’s crazy to think that when Nvidia went public in 1999, Sega sold their shares – and Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, has said that if they’d held onto that initial $5 million, it would be worth around a trillion dollars now! Talk about a missed opportunity, but also a testament to how far Nvidia has come.

As a gamer, I’ve always known Nvidia for their amazing graphics cards and GeForce Now. But it’s pretty interesting to learn that these days, they’re actually making most of their money from companies building AI technology, not just us gamers!

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2025-12-05 21:39