Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below.
On Wednesday, Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang reflected on the pivotal moment when a last-minute investment from Sega helped the struggling chipmaker survive long enough to become an AI powerhouse.
Huang traveled to Tokyo this week. During that time, he personally thanked former Sega President Shoichiro Irimajiri for a decision made three decades ago that he said ultimately saved Nvidia from collapse.
Speaking during the meeting, Huang recalled how Sega's support came after Nvidia's first major setback.
"If not for what Sega did for Nvidia … Nvidia would not be here today," Huang said.
A single bad hire can set a startup back years. Here are the 5 hires founders most often misjudge — and why
Still Learning the Market? These 50 Must-Know Terms Can Help You Catch Up Fast
He added, "To imagine that in 1995 Nvidia was nearly out of business. That we had chosen exactly the wrong technology, and that we will be here today, the largest company in the world, is unimaginable."
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met former Sega CEO Shoichiro Irimajiri and game designer Yu Suzuki in Tokyo to thank them for a $5 million investment in 1995 that saved Nvidia from bankruptcy after the company failed to deliver a chip Sega had ordered pic.twitter.com/H6czBoxTbS
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 15, 2026
In 1995, Nvidia launched its first graphics processor, the NV1, which used a graphics rendering approach based on curved surfaces rather than the triangle-based method that would soon become the industry standard.
After Microsoft Corp adopted triangles for DirectX, the NV1 quickly lost relevance and a follow-up graphics chip Nvidia had been developing with Sega was canceled.
The failed bet left Nvidia with only about 30 days of cash remaining. Huang flew to Japan to meet Irimajiri in person and proposed converting the money Sega owed under an existing contract into a $5 million equity investment.
See Also: Avoid the #1 Investing Mistake: How Your 'Safe' Holdings Could Be Costing You Big Time
Huang reportedly warned that the investment would "most likely be lost," but said it represented Nvidia's only chance to survive.
Irimajiri convinced Sega's board to approve the investment, giving Nvidia roughly six more months to stay afloat.
The additional funding allowed Nvidia to develop the RIVA 128, a triangle-based graphics chip that launched in 1997 and sold about 1 million units within four months, marking the company's turnaround.
Source: Yahoo Finance Top News — This article was automatically imported from the source. Read full article at original source →
