“The fact that I can afford to pay $8 billion in taxes over five years is a privilege,” the 63-year-old explained. “The more you make, the more taxes you pay. So, I’m okay with that.”
Proposition 40 — a one-off wealth tax on 5% of the net worth of any billionaire living in the state as of January 1 of this year — would, in theory, generate billions of dollars primarily for public healthcare services but also for education and food assistance programs. It’s estimated that California is currently home to around 260 billionaires — the most of any state — and that the tax could raise more than $108 billion in revenue. California also has the highest combined federal and state income tax rate, which tops out at 50.3%.
Neither Huang or Nvidia replied to Moneywise’s request for comment, but the billionaire told CBS that he’s “not afraid of paying taxes.” Rather, he quipped that he harbors a different concern: “I’m just afraid of being poor.”
From Denny’s dishwasher to tech billionaire
At first, a billionaire expressing concern about becoming poor could come off as somewhat tone deaf. In the second quarter of 2026, for example, the median weekly earnings for full-time U.S. wage and salary workers hit $1,258 — or roughly $67,500 if calculated across the entire year. Meanwhile, a 2026 SEC filing put Huang’s 2026 compensation at above $36 million.
But Huang wasn’t born into privilege. Originally from Taiwan, he was sent by his parents, along with his older brother, to the U.S. at age nine to live with an uncle in the hopes of achieving a better life.
“I’d never stood in a house with carpets before,” he said in a 2026 interview with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. “I couldn’t imagine what this amazing country was. And everything was so beautiful, the cars, everything was just incredible.”
Huang told CBS that he’s the “ultimate American dream,” eventually graduating with a master’s degree from Stanford and co-founding Nvidia — which makes computer chips that help power, among other things, AI data centers and servers — with friends while working as a Denny’s dishwasher.
“I was just really, really focused on doing dishes like no dishwasher ever did dishes,” he added.
Huang also shared his belief in the importance of paying his employees well, telling CBS that “Instead of paying people as little as possible to get their work, I try to pay people as much as possible. That’s a privilege of being successful. And, frankly, I’m delighted to do it.”
