The Financial Times (FT) on the 12th (local time) named Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang its person of the year.
FT cited a 45-minute phone call between Huang and U.S. President Donald Trump, assessing that Huang has moved to the "center of power." It said the recent U.S. government approval for Nvidia to sell advanced chips to China was a "tangible result." FT analyzed that Huang praised President Trump in public appearances and proved adept at dealmaking that Trump favors, showing an "ability to handle the Trump White House."
FT said, "Chips, once the unloved stepchild of the digital world, have emerged as the driving force of the AI boom sweeping industry and finance this year," adding, "We recognized Huang's contribution to this shift and named him person of the year." It continued, "He has led the largest investment program in private-sector history and is a key figure in introducing a technology with the potential to reshape industry as a whole."
FT said, "Nvidia is the most valuable company in the world and at one point became the first to top a $5 trillion (about 7,380 trillion won) market capitalization," adding, "Even if today's valuation is overestimated and the share price is cut in half, Nvidia's value would still be more than triple that of 2021."
The FT report also included remarks from Huang. In an interview with FT, Huang called Nvidia "one of the most consequential technology corporations in history," saying, "This technology we spent 30 years building is fundamentally changing all computing. We are in the process of creating an entirely new industry that produces digital intelligence."
The Financial Times, noting his "star power," also mentioned the leather jacket that has become Jensen Huang's "personal brand," akin to Steve Jobs' turtleneck, as well as the beer love shot with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun that captivated online audiences.