Market analysis reveals Interestingly, Success·CareersNvidia CEO’s always-on 7-day grind is going viral—he can’t even sit through a movie without thinking his $4.
2 trillion giantBy Preston ForeBy Preston ForeStaff Writer, EducationPreston ForeStaff Writer, EducationPreston Fore is a reporter at Fortune, covering education and personal finance for the Success team, given the current landscape.
However, At the same time, SEE FULL BIO Nvidia’s boss Jensen Huang says his brain is permanently on the clock: "When I'm not working, I'm thinking working.
Additionally, "Chesnot/Getty ImagesNvidia’s billionaire CEO Jensen Huang admits his work-life balance is nonexistent.
As the boss of the most valuable company in the world, he works nearly every hour of the day, seven days a week, in this volatile climate.
Even when he takes time to rest or relax, work is always on his mind: “When I’m not working, I’m thinking working,” he says.
Additionally, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang might be the hardest-working executive in the world. After all, his $4.
2 trillion company now tops the list of the most valuable companies (for context, Meta and Amazon combined’s valuation is $4, in today's financial world. 1 trillion) (remarkable data).
However, leading his company to greatness has meant that work-life balance has had to take a major backseat; in fact, for Huang, every waking moment is dedicated to work, given current economic conditions.
Moreover, “I work from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep (this bears monitoring), given the current landscape.
I work seven days a week,” Huang said in an interview with Stripe’s CEO Patrick Collison last year, that’s currently going viral once again.
However, “When I’m not working, I’m thinking working… I sit through movies, but I don’t remember them because I’m thinking work.
” While it may sound hardcore, Huang’s leadership has helped Nvidia’s stock become one of the hottest commodities—with the price skyrocketing 1,600% in the last five years.
But not all his hours on the clock are answering s or sitting through meetings; the 62-year-old often spends his time as a leader envisioning the future.
Additionally, “Sometimes you’re imagining the future. And, boy, if we did this and that, in light of current trends. It’s working, you’re fantasizing, you’re dreaming,” he said.
One of his biggest dreams is that every part of his company will use AI aggressively—which will not only help scale the to even greater heights but also give him and his workers some added flexibility.
Additionally, “I want to turn NVIDIA into a one giant AI,” Jensen said to Collison. “How great would that be. And then I’ll have work-life balance.
” Nvidia employees hardcore grind to the top Working beyond the 9-to-5 is a norm that more than just Huang endures.
According to accounts from multiple former employees, there were expectations to be on the work grind seven days a week—with work piling up until one or two in the morning, Bloomberg reports.
Other workers, especially in the engineering department, had even longer work hours.
Additionally, And in meetings, the pressure would often get so high that shouting matches would reportedly occur, according to Bloomberg, in this volatile climate.
Meanwhile, However, with high pay packages at the growing company, the anonymous workers said they felt it difficult to leave (quite telling).
Huang himself has admitted that he’s not the easiest boss to have.
Furthermore, In a 60 Minutes interview last year, he said that working at Nvidia shouldn’t come with the expectation of ease, in today's market environment.
“If you want to do extraordinary things, it shouldn’t be easy,” he said (something worth watching). Nvidia declined Fortune’s request for (noteworthy indeed).
Work-life balance goes out the window on the path to success Having to forgo work-life balance in exchange for scaling a is not something that’s exclusive to the industry—leaders of all industries have admitted that working as much as possible will translate to results.
Furthermore, Lior Lewensztain, founder and CEO of fruit bar and snack company, That’s It Nutrition, previously told Fortune that work-life balance remains an elusive perk—even after building a multi-million-dollar.
“Even if I am on vacation, you’re on 24 hours a day, given current economic conditions. You never can really leave,” said Lewensztain.
And it’s something even world leaders former President Barack Obama have echoed: “If you want to be excellent at anything—sports, music, —there’s going to be times of your life when you’re out of balance, where you’re just working and you’re single-minded,” he said on The Pivot Podcast.
When ing for a career, billionaire cofounder of Scale AI Lucy Gao, encourages Gen Z to pick one that doesn’t make you crave time off (this bears monitoring).
“I would say that if you feel the need for work-life balance, maybe you’re not in the right work,” she told Fortune.
Moreover, In contrast, Introducing the 2025 Fortune 500, the definitive ranking of the biggest companies in America. Meanwhile, Explore this year's list.