NVIDIA Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang recorded lower total compensation in fiscal 2026 as stock awards declined. A regulatory filing showed his pay fell 27% to $36.3 million from $49.9 million a year earlier.
The decline came even as NVIDIA kept its position as the world’s most valuable company. However, its share price growth slowed after two strong years driven by demand for artificial intelligence chips.
Jensen Huang’s equity awards fell 36% to $24.8 million in fiscal 2026. They remained the largest part of his total pay package, according to the company filing released on Tuesday.
In fiscal 2025, Huang received $38.8 million in stock awards. That helped lift his total compensation to $49.9 million during a year when NVIDIA shares delivered stronger gains.
The latest filing showed that Huang received $19.2 million in single-year performance stock units. He also received $18 million in multi-year performance stock units for fiscal 2026.
However, the stock award value does not always match the amount an executive later receives. Final payouts can change based on vesting terms, share price moves and company performance targets.
Jensen Huang’s salary changed little during the latest fiscal year. It stood at $1.5 million in fiscal 2026, after rising by slightly more than $11,000 from the prior year. His non-equity incentive plan compensation also stayed flat at $6 million. That part of his pay did not change from fiscal 2025, according to the filing.
All other compensation reached $4 million in fiscal 2026. Reports said his pay from miscellaneous sources rose by just under $500,000 compared with the previous year.
Therefore, the drop in total pay mainly came from lower equity awards. Salary and incentive payments did not account for most of the year-over-year change.
NVIDIA shares rose 39% in 2025, after tripling in 2023 and more than doubling in 2024. The company remained at the center of the artificial intelligence chip market during that period.
However, the stock’s pace slowed in the latest reported year. NVIDIA shares rose roughly 2% during its last fiscal year, compared with about 60% in the previous fiscal year.
The stock has gained 18% so far in 2026. That pace places NVIDIA among the slower performers in the major chip group this year. Still, NVIDIA’s market value remains ahead of other listed companies. The company continues to report strong demand from data centers, cloud firms, and AI infrastructure buyers.
NVIDIA’s four other top executives also recorded lower compensation due to smaller stock awards. Their total pay ranged from $14.3 million to $14.8 million. The filing also stated that Huang owned 3.6% of NVIDIA’s shares. That stake remains separate from his annual compensation table.
NVIDIA reported that its average employee earned $282,050 in the latest fiscal year. The figure appeared in the same filing that listed executive pay details.
The compensation update shows how equity awards can shift executive pay from year to year. For Huang, smaller stock awards reduced total pay, while salary and incentive compensation stayed mostly steady.
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