Improve People Instead of Replacing Them

At Stripe Sessions in 2024, Huang said of how he treats people who fall short: “I’d rather improve you than give up on you,” adding that he would “rather torture you into greatness because I believe in you.” Fortune notes that he immediately called the remark “tongue-in-cheek” and compared it to coaches who “torture them into greatness.” It is a demanding promise as much as a kind one.

The numbers. Bloomberg, reported by Fortune in August 2024, put Nvidia’s 2023 turnover at 2.7%, against about 17.7% for the semiconductor industry (from Nvidia’s sustainability report for fiscal 2024, which roughly matches calendar 2023). Nvidia’s FY2026 10-K shows 3.7%. Nvidia’s fiscal year ends in late January, so FY2026 is roughly calendar 2025.

Why people stay. Fortune’s explanation is financial: shares up more than 3,000% from the start of 2019 to August 2024, grants that vest over four years, and an employee stock purchase plan of up to 15% of salary at a 15% discount.

Not a no-layoffs story. Nvidia cut staff from about 100 to about 40 in 1996 and by about 6.5% (roughly 360 positions) in September 2008, per its 8-K.

Doesn’t transfer, and this is the headline non-transferable. Low turnover at Nvidia coincided with one of the biggest stock runs in history; unvested grants make leaving extraordinarily expensive. The low turnover may owe more to the stock than to the culture. A company with flat equity that copies “torture into greatness” gets the torture without the handcuffs.