Challenge: nine years old, parents in Taiwan, him in Kentucky—alone. Denny’s busboy, flipping pancakes at five in the morning, grease in his hair, no one to call home.
Accountable: didn’t say “this is unfair.” He said “this is mine.” Every dish washed, every tip saved—he owned the shift.
Assimilated: American dream wasn’t a poster—it was a paycheck. Learned the language of chips, circuits, code. Built NVIDIA from a garage, same way he built his English.
Allegiance: “America shaped our lives,” he says out loud. Powers U.S. AI, hires American, stays American.
Permanent: hustle isn’t a phase—it’s identity.
Prudent: saved every cent, invested in people, not flash.
Pragmatic: GPUs flop? Pivot. Market dies? Pivot. Keeps moving.
Lemons: homesick kid, no English, no safety.
What he made: the brain behind every game, every AI, every car that drives itself.
Read: his Stanford talk—on YouTube, no filter.
Grateful Immigrant 