Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says ‘nothing would give me more joy’ than to pay more taxes: ‘I’m just afraid of being poor’

While California faces a billionaire exodus ahead of its November 3 wealth tax vote, Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang says he’d happily pay more to the tax man.

During a recent interview with CBS News, Huang — whose net worth Forbes recently pegged at more than $197 billion — was asked about the prospect of having to pay up to $8 billion in taxes over five years if Proposition 40 passes. He responded that “it’s a privilege, it’s a responsibility” to pay taxes and that “nothing would give me more joy” than to pay more.

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“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.

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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.”

Nvidia is reportedly worth more than $5 trillion, making it the richest company on Earth, while SEC filings put the median 2026 employee salary at $282,050.

Huang, meanwhile, previously boasted about creating “more billionaires on my management team than any CEO in the world,” adding that he reviews the pay of Nvidia’s 40,000-plus employees each year and “increase(s) the company’s spend” to “take care of people.”

That said, while generous pay and rising stock values did help push some employees into millionaire territory, others spoke out about grueling work hours, a “pressure cooker” environment and the “golden handcuffs” that came with the gig.

Nvidia, however, isn’t the only tech company making its employees rich off the AI boom. South Korean workers at SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics are also reportedly raking in the cash, making them hot commodities on the country’s dating scene.

Huang bucks the billionaire exodus trend

Huang, though, is seemingly in the minority when it comes to billionaires who are happy to pay California’s proposed wealth tax.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin, for one, spent $100 million to fight it, while Mark Cuban declared that “only idiot startup founders stay in Cali” if the bill passes. And Elon Musk argued that, in terms of wealth taxes, “I have stock in SpaceX and Tesla, not some big pile of cash.”

Proponents of the tax itself even admit that “when and how much the state would collect is very hard to predict for many reasons,” including the fact that “much of the wealth is based on stock prices, which are always changing.”

And as multiple high-profile billionaires like Brin, fellow Google co-founder Larry Page, Peter Thiel and others flee the state ahead of the potential tax, opponents of the measure contend that not only will it bring in less than the expected gains, it will also cost the state more revenue in the long run from the wealthy who packed up and moved away.

Huang, however, is unlikely to join the ranks of those billionaires who’ve relocated to Florida or Nevada. Speaking at an event at his alma mater, Stanford, in May, the Nvidia chief shared his enduring love for the Golden State.

“I say to everybody, ‘Move to California. Don’t leave,'” he explained. “‘It’s the highest taxes in the world, but it’s okay. The weather is great.'”

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This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the title: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang says ‘nothing would give me more joy’ than to pay more taxes: ‘I’m just afraid of being poor’

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