Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang lamented during an interview at the 2026 World Economic Forum gathering purchasing “the most expensive car in the world.” According to the leather-clad CEO, he regretted cashing out some of his company stock after its 1999 IPO to buy his parents a nice car, although he also said they still have the vehicle.
“My only regret was at the IPO. After the IPO, I wanted to buy my parents something nice, and so I sold Nvidia stock at a valuation of $300 million — the company was at a valuation of $300 million — and I bought them a Mercedes S-Class,” Huang said. “It is the most expensive car in the world. They regret it.” Thankfully, when the host asked, “Do they still have it?” Jensen answered, “Oh, sure. Yeah, they still have it.”
The S-Class was Mercedes-Benz’s top-of-the-line offering back in 1999, and given that Huang just received a massive windfall after Nvidia’s IPO, we can assume that he bought the most expensive S600 trim, which came with a 6-liter V12 engine. Multiple sources indicate that this vehicle cost around $135,000 back then, depending on the options. With Nvidia’s stock price at $12 per share at the time, Jensen likely sold around 11,250 shares to afford the Mercedes.
Nvidia shares have made several splits since then:
|
Date |
Split |
Equivalent Shares |
|---|---|---|
|
22 January 1999 |
– |
11,250 |
|
27 June 2000 |
2-to-1 |
22,500 |
|
17 September 2001 |
2-to-1 |
45,000 |
|
07 April 2006 |
2-to-1 |
90,000 |
|
11 September 2007 |
1.5-to-1 |
135,000 |
|
20 July 2021 |
4-to-1 |
540,000 |
|
10 June 2024 |
10-to-1 |
5,400,000 |
So, if Huang decided to gift his parents Nvidia shares instead of an S600, they’d probably have 5,400,000 shares of company stock right now. Aside from the number of shares, its value has also skyrocketed, with each share sitting at around $187 at the time of writing (5.4 million shares are currently valued at $1,009,800,000). This far eclipses the price tag of the bespoke Rolls-Royce Droptail, currently the most expensive new car in the world, worth $32 million apiece, with only four units being made.
One could say that this was a bad investment for Jensen, and his parents also seem to agree. Nevertheless, that amount is just a drop in the bucket for the CEO. After all, even though he took out 6 million shares just last year, that is still a minuscule amount compared to the estimated $123 billion he holds in Nvidia stock.
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