One Nvidia employee turned small salary deductions into $62 million. Another lost a fortune worth nearly $1 billion

Nvidia is preparing for a major leadership transition after co-founder Jensen Huang recently stepped down as CEO, ending his 33-year association with the top job. Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress has taken over as interim CEO while the company searches for a permanent successor. As the chipmaker company enters a new chapter, two extraordinary stories of former employees offer a glimpse into the wealth created by the company's spectacular rise under Huang.

One employee, who was not even an engineer, accumulated Nvidia shares worth $62 million by consistently investing a portion of his salary. Another, an early engineer at the company, reportedly lost the opportunity to make a fortune.

The two stories were shared by Tae Kim, a technology journalist and author of The Nvidia Way, in April 2024 and it reported by Tom's Hardware.

How an Nvidia employee built a $62 million fortune

The first employee reportedly spent 18 years making the most of Nvidia's employee stock purchase plan (ESPP). The scheme allowed employees to use between 10% and 15% of their salaries to purchase company shares at a 15% discount to the market price.

According to Kim, the mid-level employee consistently maximised the benefit and held on to the shares throughout his time at Nvidia.

"The person left Nvidia with shares now worth $62 million," Kim wrote on X.

"What makes it special is he never sold during tenure. Many sell along the way," Kim added in a follow-up post.

The engineer who lost his Nvidia shares

The second story had a very different outcome. Kim also recalled an early Nvidia engineer who once owned one million shares of the company, adjusted for stock splits.

The engineer's holdings were reportedly sold after his broker used his account as collateral against another stock investment. That stock subsequently fell 90%, leading to a forced sale of his Nvidia shares to cover the losses.

Kim described the incident as the engineer's "half billion dollar mistake".

The missed opportunity became even more painful given Nvidia's subsequent growth. The million shares could have been worth close to $1 billion as the chipmaker's valuation climbed in recent years due to the AI boom. Instead, the engineer lost his stake because of losses in an entirely different investment.