Nvidia makes history, becomes first company to reach USD 5 trillion market value

The milestone, reached just three months after Nvidia crossed USD 4 trillion, now surpasses the entire cryptocurrency market's value and equals nearly half of Europe's benchmark Stoxx 600 index. Nvidia on Wednesday became the first company in history to reach a market value of USD 5 trillion, marking a stunning ascent fuelled by the artificial intelligence boom that has reshaped global technology and markets. The achievement highlights Nvidia’s transformation from a niche graphics-chip designer into the backbone of the AI industry, turning CEO Jensen Huang into one of Silicon Valley’s most influential figures and placing the company at the centre of the US–China tech rivalry. Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, Nvidia’s Reached just three months after the company crossed USD 4 trillion, the new valuation now surpasses the total worth of the global cryptocurrency market and equals nearly half of Europe’s benchmark Stoxx 600 index. Morningstar senior equity analyst Brian Colello said Nvidia’s leadership in AI would likely persist despite efforts by competitors to develop their own solutions. “In the long run, we expect tech titans to strive to find second sources or in-house alternatives to diversify away from Nvidia in AI, but these efforts will, at best, only chip away at, not supplant, Nvidia’s dominance,” he said. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is expected to discuss Nvidia’s Blackwell chip with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. Sales of the high-end chip have been a sticking point in ongoing tensions between the two countries, particularly amid Washington’s export controls on advanced semiconductors. At current market prices, Huang’s stake in Nvidia is worth about USD 177.3 billion, making him the world’s eighth-richest person, according to Forbes. Born in Taiwan and raised in the United States from the age of nine, Huang founded Nvidia in 1993 and has led it ever since. Under his leadership, the company’s H100 and Blackwell processors have become the core engines behind large-language models such as ChatGPT and Elon Musk’s xAI. While Nvidia remains the clear leader in the AI race, peers such as Apple and Microsoft have also crossed the USD 4 trillion valuation threshold in recent months. Analysts say the rally reflects investor confidence in sustained AI spending, though some warn that valuations may be running hot. “AI’s current expansion relies on a few dominant players financing each other’s capacity,” said Matthew Tuttle, CEO of Tuttle Capital Management. “The moment investors start demanding cash-flow returns instead of capacity announcements, some of these flywheels could seize.” With tech stocks carrying heavy weight in indices such as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, Nvidia’s performance now has sweeping influence across global markets. The company is scheduled to report quarterly earnings on 19 November. Nvidia’s dominance has drawn mounting regulatory and political scrutiny, as US export curbs on advanced chips make it a key instrument in Washington’s efforts to restrict China’s access to AI technologies. “Nvidia clearly brought their story to DC to both educate and gain favour with the US government,” said Bob O’Donnell of TECHnalysis Research. “They managed to hit most of the hottest and most influential topics in tech.” At the company’s developer conference on Tuesday, Huang struck a careful geopolitical balance — crediting Trump’s “America First” policies with driving domestic tech investment, while warning that excluding China from Nvidia’s ecosystem could deprive the United States of access to nearly half of the world’s AI developers. Despite rising competition from Advanced Micro Devices and several well-funded startups, Nvidia remains the preferred choice for high-end AI chips, and the company to beat in the global race for artificial intelligence supremacy.