Nvidia Corp.’s rising stock price has created a challenge for Jensen Huang’s charitable foundation: as the stock rises, so does the amount of money they have to give away.
The Jen-Hsun & Lori Huang Foundation saw its assets, which mostly consist of Nvidia stock, more than triple to $3.4 billion by the end of 2023, according to its newly released tax filing. To account for the growth, it will have to give away at least $120 million this year — double last year’s level, the filing shows.
“They need to put more money in the door,” said John Seitz, founder FundazioMarka company that tracks the performance of foundation investments.
The foundation, named after the Nvidia founder and his wife, gave $59.7 million last year, down from $66.3 million in 2022. Most of that went to a different charity fund managed by Huang and his wife, along with $10 million in gifts. to his alma mater, Oregon State University. The next largest gift at $900,000 was to Magen David Adom’s American Friends, to support Israel’s version of the Red Cross.
“The Huang Foundation supports higher education, public health and STEM initiatives across the US, along with local community organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area,” a Huangs spokesperson said in a statement. “By taking a long-term view, the foundation ensures that its resources will continue to support critical causes in the future, maximizing its charitable impact over time.”
The Internal Revenue Service requires private foundations to give away at least 5% of their assets each year, which can be a moving target for charities with rapidly rising stakes. The Huangs’ foundation met the distribution requirement in 2023 as promised in their 2022 tax filing, records show.
In 2025, the foundation’s requested grant will increase again, as Nvidia’s stock has risen nearly 200% this year, boosting both its assets and Huang’s personal fortune. He is now the 11th richest person in the world, with $128 billion, up $84 billion this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Based on 68.5 million shares The foundation had until the end of 2023, which includes Nvidia’s June stock split, the foundation would now have about $10 billion in assets. Due to IRS reporting guidelines, the foundation will not report its 2024 financials until November 2025.
Huang’s foundation is a very lean operation, with him and his wife as the only employees. They each work just one hour a week and receive no compensation.
Read more: Nvidia CEO Huang has billions in the foundation, where he logs hourly weeks
Most of the giving goes to a donor-advised fund, effectively moving money from one charitable pool to another as is common among billionaire foundations to meet the annual distribution requirement. Unlike a foundation, assets in such accounts can be invested indefinitely because DAFs are classified as public charities, which are not subject to the IRS’s annual distribution requirements.
The filings show that Schwab Charitable, which manages the Huangs’ GeForce Fund, controls $4 billion in Nvidia stock, at least some of which is in GeForce. In 2023, the Jen-Hsun & Lori Huang Foundation awarded $46.5 million to the GeForce Fund, adding to the $125 million they gave to the DAF in previous years.
