Nvidia has more than just billions of dollars in value to lose if its stock keeps falling

Nvidia, the nearly $3 trillion AI chip maker, is well known a “golden handcuffs” employer. Expect long hours, screaming-match meetings, a CEO who believes he should “torture” his employees into greatness — your standard tech startup-turned-juggernaut nightmare.

Nvidia, the nearly $3 trillion AI chip maker, is well known as a “golden handcuffs” employer. Expect long hours, screaming-match meetings, a CEO who believes he should “torture” his employees into greatness — your standard tech startup-turned-juggernaut nightmare. In exchange, you get to be rich, possibly very rich, thanks to your equity in the company. It’s a common Silicon Valley compensation model — young companies that are light on cash but brimming with potential can attract talent by promising shares on top of a salary, giving each employee a personal incentive in its success. It’s worked especially well for Nvidia, a 30-year-old tech company whose specialized chips now account for 90% of AI-related chip sales. Since 2019, Nvidia’s stock has soared 3,000% — minting millionaires among its rank and file. But as the chip maker’s stock slides, those handcuffs could lose some of their luster. Here’s the deal: Last week, just before Nvidia released its quarterly earnings, Bloomberg published a deeply reported account of life inside Nvidia, citing 10 current and former employees. To hear them tell it, it isn’t the kind of depraved tech frat house that you might associate with a company as buzzy and suddenly flush as Nvidia (pronounced en-VID-eeyah).