An AMD merger deal with NVIDIA is said to have, at one time, been in the works but fell through due to leadership details. It’s almost inconceivable but according to AMD Engineer Hemant Mohapatra, there was a point at which AMD nearly purchased NVIDIA. This industry paradigm-shifting event was said to have been in the works back when AMD instead ended up buying ATI. The point of contention came from Jensen Huang who wanted to replace then AMD CEO Hector Ruiz.
Per Hemant Mohapatra (via X formerly Twitter):
“So now that Nvidia has far outstripped the market cap of AMD and Intel, I thought this would be a fun story to tell. I spent 6+yrs @ AMD engg in mid to late 2000s helping design the CPU/APU/GPUs that we see today. Back then it was unimaginable for AMD to beat Intel in market-cap (we did in 2020!) and for Nvidia to beat both! In fact, AMD almost bought Nvidia but Jensen wasn’t ready to sell unless he replace Hector Ruiz of AMD as the CEO of the joint company. The world would have looked very different had that happened. Here’s the inside scoop of how & why AMD saw the GPU oppty, lost it, and then won it back in the backdrop of Nvidia’s far more insane trajectory, & lessons I still carry from those heady days:”
Of course, now an AMD merger deal with NVIDIA seems almost unimaginable given each’s market shares in the enterprise server, AI, gaming consoles, and consumer GPU sectors. On top of that AMD also has its CPU division that competes favorably with Intel despite its GPU division never managing to topple NVIDIA’s lead in flagship tiers. Fellow AMD employee Phil Park shared on social media that while never having met Hemant, and not entirely agreeing with Hemant’s opinion, it was true that Jensen did indeed want to become CEO of AMD.
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Discussion (8 replies)
Join Discussion →Some time after AMD bought ATI, there was a rumor that intel was to acquire nvidia but Jensen also wanted to be the CEO.
Nowadays, nvidia has the cash to buy both.
Can't say he's in the wrong here. Took Nvidia right to the top.
"Niner51, post: 86995, member: 106" wrote:Can't say he's in the wrong here. Took Nvidia right to the top.
His engineers took it to the top. He just sits and takes all the credit.
Having the right employees makes all the difference. The guy at the top isn't responsible for that. He didn't even hire the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the engineers.
"Riccochet, post: 86997, member: 4" wrote:His engineers took it to the top. He just sits and takes all the credit.
Having the right employees makes all the difference. The guy at the top isn't responsible for that. He didn't even hire the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the engineers.
Yes I understand that, but for him to be in charge is something right there. Sure I think the guy is quirky and probably isn't heavily involved, but he's smart to be in the position he's in so I have to give him some credit.
CEO's set the direction and kind of are the main Enterprise to Enterprise marketing face for the company. His engineers have been able to hit targets and he's satisfied customers with those targets. They have executed well under his 'leadership'. Can't deny that.
"Riccochet, post: 86997, member: 4" wrote:His engineers took it to the top. He just sits and takes all the credit.
Having the right employees makes all the difference. The guy at the top isn't responsible for that. He didn't even hire the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the engineers.
The guy is a visionary to say the least. He has made nvidia the top contender in pretty much every market its in and by a huge margin in most cases. Gaming, HPC, multimedia, robotics, automotive, just to name a few, and of course the cherry on top AI.
CEOs CAN make a huge difference, just take a look at AMD's Lisa Su, she brought the company from almost bankruptcy to a real competitor with intel. She does lack Jensen's vision though IMO, AMD doesn't even figure in most markets nvidia is in, it has a lot of catching up to do.
BTW he did hire the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the engineers :p :D ;)
I recall an ex-nvidia exec that said that the best thing nvidia got from the 3dfx buyout was not the technology, but the engineers.
"Stoly, post: 87028, member: 1474" wrote:The guy is a visionary to say the least. He has made nvidia the top contender in pretty much every market its in and by a huge margin in most cases. Gaming, HPC, multimedia, robotics, automotive, just to name a few, and of course the cherry on top AI.
CEOs CAN make a huge difference, just take a look at AMD's Lisa Su, she brought the company from almost bankruptcy to a real competitor with intel. She does lack Jensen's vision though IMO, AMD doesn't even figure in most markets nvidia is in, it has a lot of catching up to do.
BTW he did hire the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the engineers :p :D ;)
I recall an ex-nvidia exec that said that the best thing nvidia got from the 3dfx buyout was not the technology, but the engineers.
I don't know where you guys work... but you have a low opinion of engineers. Where I work Engineers like myself are... lets see.. Pay grade wise.. 4 steps removed from C level?
CEOs may not always get their hands dirty but they set the direction and tone. I think more gets said by what they don't do rather than what they do: Inaction can speak louder than action.
Discussion (8 replies)
Join Discussion →Some time after AMD bought ATI, there was a rumor that intel was to acquire nvidia but Jensen also wanted to be the CEO.
Nowadays, nvidia has the cash to buy both.
Can't say he's in the wrong here. Took Nvidia right to the top.
His engineers took it to the top. He just sits and takes all the credit.
Having the right employees makes all the difference. The guy at the top isn't responsible for that. He didn't even hire the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the engineers.
Yes I understand that, but for him to be in charge is something right there. Sure I think the guy is quirky and probably isn't heavily involved, but he's smart to be in the position he's in so I have to give him some credit.
CEO's set the direction and kind of are the main Enterprise to Enterprise marketing face for the company. His engineers have been able to hit targets and he's satisfied customers with those targets. They have executed well under his 'leadership'. Can't deny that.
The guy is a visionary to say the least. He has made nvidia the top contender in pretty much every market its in and by a huge margin in most cases. Gaming, HPC, multimedia, robotics, automotive, just to name a few, and of course the cherry on top AI.
CEOs CAN make a huge difference, just take a look at AMD's Lisa Su, she brought the company from almost bankruptcy to a real competitor with intel. She does lack Jensen's vision though IMO, AMD doesn't even figure in most markets nvidia is in, it has a lot of catching up to do.
BTW he did hire the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired the engineers :p :D ;)
I recall an ex-nvidia exec that said that the best thing nvidia got from the 3dfx buyout was not the technology, but the engineers.
I don't know where you guys work... but you have a low opinion of engineers. Where I work Engineers like myself are... lets see.. Pay grade wise.. 4 steps removed from C level?
CEOs may not always get their hands dirty but they set the direction and tone. I think more gets said by what they don't do rather than what they do: Inaction can speak louder than action.