Nvidia salaries: Executives, engineers & CEO pay ratio

Nvidia transformed itself from a company known first for making the hardware for processing graphics in gaming to accelerating processing models for artificial intelligence. Nvidia continues to focus on growing its artificial intelligence business, and part of that growth requires hiring top talent.

In fiscal 2026, the tech giant hired 6,000 additional employees, which required allocating more cash to human capital. 

Here’s who gets paid the most at Nvidia, the world’s biggest publicly traded company, and what the median compensation among employees is.

Who are Nvidia’s highest-paid executives?

Nvidia’s highest-paid employees are in its executive ranks. According to Nvidia’s fiscal 2025 data, CEO Jensen Huang had a base salary of $1.5 million, but cash and stock awards boosted his total compensation to $49.86 million. Huang is also Nvidia’s largest individual shareholder, owning around 3.7% of the company.

Among executive vice presidents, Ajay Puri, who is in charge of worldwide field operations, had the highest salary — at almost $950,000 — and also the largest compensation, at $21.59 million.

Colett Kress, who serves as CFO, had total compensation of $21.36 million, while Debora Shoquist, in charge of operations, had $19.21 million, and Timothy Teter, general counsel, made $19.20 million.

Nvidia’s executive vice president salaries & compensation

What is Nvidia’s median compensation & CEO pay ratio?

Nvidia’s median compensation, which includes salary and stock awards, was around $300,000 in fiscal 2025, based on company data.

Its CEO pay ratio, which compares the CEO’s compensation to that of the median employee, was 166 to 1, based on Huang’s $49.86 million compensation. By comparison, Apple’s CEO pay ratio was wider, at 533 to 1, partly due to Apple having more employees in fiscal 2025.

Still, that pay ratio was significantly higher than just five years earlier. In fiscal 2020, Nvidia’s CEO-to-median-employee pay ratio was 64 to 1. Huang’s compensation was $11.49 million, compared to an employee median of $178,944.

Related: How many employees does Nvidia have? From R&D to sales

How much do Nvidia’s engineers make?

Engineers make up a significant portion of Nvidia’s workforce and are at the core of its focus on innovation through research and development. Nvidia said that it has invested more than $76 billion in research and development since its inception — paving the way for the creation of its GPUs and hardware for use in AI. Since fiscal 2020 alone, the company spent around $56 billion on R&D.

NVIDIA employs around 42,000 people, of which 31,000 are in research and development. 11,000 work in sales, marketing, operations, and administrative positions. That’s up from a payroll of 36,000 just a year before.

Nvidia continues to attract top talent. 80% of its workforce is technical, while more than 50% hold advanced degrees. 

Of the 2,357 jobs posted on Nvidia’s careers page as of late March 2026, 1,600 were in engineering.

The base salary for a system software engineer based at the company’s headquarters in Santa Clara, California, ranged from $152,000 to $287,500 based on experience. A senior engineering manager commanded higher pay, from $272,000 to $431,250. Incentives, such as granting stock awards, could further increase their compensation.

More on Nvidia:

• Does Nvidia pay dividends? Payouts & yield amid the AI boom
• Nvidia’s stock split history: Everything you need to know
• Nvidia’s headquarters: An ode to space and 3D rendering

Does Nvidia promote from within?

Nvidia said that for its fiscal 2026, turnover was low, at 3.7%, and it aspired to make the company “a place where people can build their careers over their lifetime.“ 

Nvidia invests in its employees through offerings such as on-the-job training courses, and “tuition reimbursement programs to subsidize educational programs and advanced certifications and encourage internal job mobility.”