When Nvidia went public, Jensen Huang held 27.7% of Nvidia shares. However, because he couldn't see clearly into Nvidia's future, he continuously reduced his holdings over the years, and now only owns 3.5%. If one had a god's eye view, Jensen Huang would know that Nvidia would achieve its current success. He wouldn't just hold on; he might even look for ways to increase his stake. Let me explain,

Regarding the shareholding of company founders, there are two extreme examples:
1. When Microsoft went public, founder Bill Gates held 49% of Microsoft shares. But he kept reducing his holdings, and now owns only 0.9% of Microsoft. His wealth ranking has fallen out of the top 10.
2. When Oracle went public, founder Larry Ellison held 34% of Oracle shares. But Larry Ellison rarely reduced his holdings, and later, through the company's buybacks, his total shares kept decreasing. Now, he owns 41% of Oracle, which is a significant increase compared to the IPO.

Many people might wonder, if founders don't reduce their holdings, how do they spend money? Actually, there are many ways. The company can pay dividends from profits, and there is also share pledge financing. Larry Ellison did this as well; you can see he hasn't spent less money than others.

Therefore, fundamentally, it still depends on the founder's confidence in the company's future. If they are convinced the company will get better and better, there's no need to reduce holdings. But lacking such strong confidence is also understandable, because most companies eventually go bankrupt or close down. If founders don't reduce their holdings along the way, it can easily lead to a complete loss in the end.

#Nvidia