Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun made a surprise guest appearance at an Nvidia event at COEX in Samseong-dong, Seoul, on the 30th.
Huang, the CEO, and Chairman Lee and Chairman Chung appeared on stage at the GeForce Gamer Festival hosted by Nvidia at COEX at about 9 p.m. on the 30th. It was right after they had a "chimaek meeting" for about 1 hour and 20 minutes at a nearby fried chicken place. Huang had been scheduled to attend, but the appearances by Lee and Chung were an unplanned surprise.
Huang personally introduced Lee and Chung. As the crowd chanted "Lee Jae-yong," Lee quipped, "Thank you. But why are there so many iPhones?"
That day, Huang also presented a letter he received from former Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee. He said, "In 1996, for the first time in my life, I received a letter in Korea. The letter said Korea should be connected with ultra-high-speed internet, build apps, and wanted my support," adding, "That was my first reason for coming to Korea."
Hearing this, Lee asked, "You're talking about my father (former Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee), right?" and the audience erupted in cheers. He said, "Twenty-five years ago, Nvidia used Samsung Electronics' GDDR (graphics DRAM) to launch the GeForce 256," adding, "From then on, Jensen Huang was a strategic partner, but he is also the greatest innovator and entrepreneur of this era, a respected business leader, and a charming, gutsy, warm friend."
When the big screen on stage showed a scene of an audience member displaying on a smartphone a stock chart image of Samsung Electronics' share price breaking 100,000 won, Lee smiled. That day, Samsung Electronics announced results showing an operating profit of 12.2 trillion won for the third quarter, and the stock closed at 104,100 won, up 3.58% from the previous day.
Chung, who went on stage together, joked, "I may look a bit older, but both of them are older than me," and laughed. He said he has enjoyed games since childhood and highlighted his ties with Nvidia. Chung said, "I've been playing arcade games since I was young, and my child likes League of Legends, which of course would have an Nvidia GPU."
He went on, "I want to talk about the present and the future. As Nvidia chips go into cars and Robotics, we will work together even more." He added, "I will make sure you can play more games in the car going forward."
They handed out Nvidia souvenir T-shirts to the crowd gathered in front of the stage and parted ways around 10 p.m.