Nvidia boss christened the Taylor Swift of technology

These days, wherever Jensen Huang goes, adoring crowds chant his name and jostle for selfies and autographs.

The Nvidia CEO simply has rock star status and during a visit to Taiwan this week, he fully demonstrated it. He posed for countless photos and even scrawled his name on a woman’s top, just below her cleavage. It was pure “Jensanity” as the locals said.

His peers know the kind of fan frenzy Mr. Huang can whip up. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg described it as “like Taylor Swift, but for technology.”

The 61-year-old bespectacled, gray-haired man dresses the part. He made the black leather jacket his signature style.

Mr. Huang is at the forefront of a technology boom as Nvidia is the world’s leading designer of artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

Earlier this week, Nvidia’s market value surpassed $3 trillion (£2.3 trillion). With this, the company overtook Apple as the world’s second most valuable company on Wednesday, before falling back on Thursday.

Nvidia shares are also up more than 200% over the past year.

“He’s literally treated like a rock star,” says technology analyst Bob O’Donnell.

“Nvidia’s last big conference in San Jose took place in a stadium. It was crowded and huge lines of people couldn’t get in. It was like a rock concert,” Mr O’Donnell said.

“This time he spoke at a sports stadium in Taiwan. I joked that he was on an arena tour.

Nvidia, headquartered in California, was originally known for making the type of chips that process graphics, particularly for computer games.

Mr. Huang co-founded the company in 1993. The company eventually changed its focus to AI, which it currently dominates.

Interest in AI peaked after the 2022 launch of ChatGPT, made possible by Nvidia chips.

The chatbot was trained using 10,000 Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs), packed into a supercomputer.

This success helped propel Nvidia to the rank elite club of American companies worth at least $1 trillion last May, joining Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft.

Even though Microsoft remains the most valuable listed company in the world, Nvidia is not far behind.

In Asia, its success has boosted Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC, the sole production partner for Nvidia’s most advanced AI chips. Shares of TSMC hit a record high on the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Thursday.

Mr. Huang credits his wife and daughter for his love of leather jackets. An Nvidia spokesperson said it has been wearing classic outerwear for more than two decades.

His latest pick, an embossed biker jacket from American fashion house Tom Ford, retailed for nearly $9,000.

He kept it even during his appearances in tropical countries like Singapore.

“Leather jackets can signal an edge: a willingness to break the rules, do things differently, and challenge the status quo,” says fashion stylist Sera Murphy.

“Jensen’s signature style gives him a relaxed, approachable energy,” she adds.

A signature style is not uncommon for tech CEOs.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs almost always wore the same outfit: a black St. Croix turtleneck, blue Levi’s 501 jeans and New Balance 991 sneakers.

Mr Zuckerberg is known for wearing plain sweaters and t-shirts from luxury fashion brands. Last March, he posted a photo of him and Mr. Huang exchanging jackets.

Murphy says “uniform dress” can help entrepreneurs create an image of stability around their business.

“People need consistency from leaders. Dressing in uniform makes things predictable in a volatile and unpredictable market,” she added.

Mr. O’Donnell expects Mr. Huang to continue making appearances at events around the world.

“At tech conferences, everyone wants Jensen on stage and he is happy to join him. What he did made him appear everywhere. He positions himself as the figurehead of generative AI,” says Mr. O’Donnell.

“The problem is that the industry doesn’t like monopolies. Nvidia has a huge market share, but competitors like AMD and Intel are starting to catch up,” he added.

“Jensen sees this opportunity to build on Nvidia. He is clearly enjoying the moment. In Taiwan, it was also the local boy who did well. It’s something people can rally around.