Jensen Huang’s 14-hour days and workaholic lifestyle helped him turn Nvidia into an AI powerhouse

At 61 years old, Huang doesn’t seem to be showing signs of slowing down anytime soon, and he certainly isn’t workshy.

Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, who interviewed Huang last year, said he asked him how much he works. On the “20VC” podcast in March, Tangen said Huang told him, “‘Nicolai, there is hard work and then there’s insanely hard work.'”

Tangen added that Huang said he works every weekday and every holiday, and that he relaxes all the time because he loves what he does.

In fact, he embraces a workaholic lifestyle.

“I work from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed. I work seven days a week. When I’m not working, I’m thinking about working, and when I’m working, I’m working. I sit through movies, but I don’t remember them because I’m thinking about work.”

Nvidia’s GPUs, which are powering the AI revolution, are in high demand this year. That comes with a lot of pressure.

“The part of it that is just really intense is just the world on our shoulders,” Huang told David Solomon, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, at the investment bank’s Communacopia and Technology Conference in September.

Huang added, “And so less sleep is fine; three solid hours is all we need.”

Huang’s been vocal in the past about how struggle and pain are character-building and help to achieve greatness.

At Stripe’s Sessions conference in April, Huang said some people think the “best jobs are the ones that bring you happiness all the time,” but he doesn’t agree with that take.

Huang thinks it takes suffering and struggle to “really appreciate what you’ve done.”

He eats in the company cafeteria to connect with employees

Speaking to Stanford University students in 2003, the Nvidia chief said he tried to spend his time on areas he thinks will have a long-lasting influence on the company.

“As a CEO, your time is not always yours and so you need to have the discipline to make it yours,” he told them.

“I’ll often come into the office and tell my admin to clear my calendar so that I can have that time back and oftentimes, you also come to the conclusion that as a CEO not sleeping is a good choice. That’s always a good option, it creates more time when you don’t sleep.”

Huang said one area he spends time on is product planning and strategy planning, which he enjoys “a great deal.”

Nvidia declined to comment.

Do you work for Nvidia? Got insights into what it’s like working for Jensen Huang? Reach out to this reporter from a nonwork device at jmann@businessinsider.com