Nvidia Founder Returns to Thank Executive Who Saved Company From Collapse

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang returned to Tokyo on Wednesday to express gratitude to the executive whose $5 million decision prevented the company's collapse after a failed Sega graphics chip development.

"If not for what Sega did for Nvidia, Nvidia would not be here today," Huang stated during a reunion with former Sega president Shoichiro Irimajiri and Virtua Fighter creator Yu Suzuki.

Nvidia, now the world's most valuable publicly traded company, faced near-bankruptcy in 1996. Three years after its founding, the company's initial product, the NV1 graphics chip, failed to meet expectations, leaving Nvidia with limited resources for its next venture.

The reunion highlights the connection between Nvidia's current efforts to reshape the PC landscape and the customer that nearly witnessed its downfall. The companies also announced that Virtua Fighter Crossroads and future Sega titles will support RTX Spark, Nvidia's new superchip for AI-focused Windows laptops and compact desktop computers.