Nvidia and Meta CEOs Evaluated Their Success Journey

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the Path to Success

Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang offered a cheerful perspective on the long road to success at the SIGGRAPH 2024 event. In a humorous conversation with Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Huang stated that if he had known how long it would take to build a tech empire, he might have followed Zuckerberg's approach of dropping out of college early.

Zuckerberg praised Huang’s role in the AI revolution during a broad discussion on generative artificial intelligence. "There are many new things to be built," Zuckerberg said, adding, "Even if progress on foundational models were to halt right now, which I don't think will happen, the industry will need five years to figure out the most effective ways to utilize all the innovations that have been built so far."

Zuckerberg expressed his support for Huang by saying, "This is your work, you made this happen." Huang humorously replied, "Thank you... CEOs are like delicate flowers," implying that even strong executives need a little appreciation.

The conversation between the two quickly became entertaining as they joked about each other's appearances. Zuckerberg remarked, "At this point, we're quite old; we're the longest-serving founders in the industry," to which Huang agreed.

Zuckerberg humorously commented on his hairstyle, while they joked similarly about Huang’s gray hair. Discussing the decades spent building their companies, Huang made a humorous confession, "If I had known that achieving success would take this long, I would have dropped out of college like you."

Zuckerberg noted the differences in their personalities while Huang pointed out that Zuckerberg has a 12-year head start. Zuckerberg responded, "You're doing quite well."

Nvidia was founded in 1993 on Huang's 30th birthday, with just $200 by purchasing a 20% stake. Huang invited co-founders Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, each investing $200 to get their own 20% shares. Nvidia was officially established on April 5, 1993, to advance 3D graphics for gaming and multimedia.

In 1999, the graphics processing unit (GPU) that reshaped the industry was introduced. By May 2023, Nvidia's market value exceeded $1 trillion, and in the following year, it skyrocketed to $2 trillion and $3 trillion. In October 2025, Nvidia made history as the first company to reach a $5 trillion market value.

At the time of writing, Nvidia's market value stood at $4.74 trillion. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg entered the tech world by founding Facebook in his dormitory in 2004. Zuckerberg’s father Edward Zuckerberg suggested investing in a McDonald's franchise for his son, but the Meta CEO chose to pursue his education at Harvard University.

According to Zuckerberg’s sister Randi, their father gave Mark and his four siblings the choice between attending college or running a franchise. Despite choosing technology, Zuckerberg dropped out in 2005 to focus on Facebook. Today, his company's market value has reached $1.60 trillion.