Curtis Priem
Curtis Priem | |
|---|---|
| Born | Curtis R. Priem 1958 or 1959 (age 65–66) |
| Alma mater | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
| Known for | Co-founding Nvidia |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Electrical engineering |
| Institutions | IBM Sun Microsystems Nvidia |
Curtis R. Priem (born 1958 or 1959[1]) is an American electrical engineer. After co-founding the Nvidia Corporation, he left the company and sold all of his shares in Nvidia by 2006.[1]
Career
[edit]He received a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1982.[2] He designed the first graphics processor for the PC, the IBM Professional Graphics Adapter.
From 1986 to 1993, he was a senior staff engineer at Sun Microsystems, where he developed the GX graphics chip. He co-founded Nvidia with Jen-Hsun Huang and Chris Malachowsky and was its chief technical officer from 1993 to 2003. He retired from Nvidia in 2003 and sold all of his shares in the company by 2006.[1] In November 2023, Forbes estimated Priem's net worth to be approximately $30 million; if he had retained his shares in Nvidia, Forbes estimated that Priem would have been worth $70 billion.[1]
In 2000, Priem was named Entrepreneur of the Year.[3] From 2003 to 2007 he was a trustee of Rensselaer.[4] In 2004 he announced that he would donate an unrestricted gift of $40 million to the Institute. Rensselaer subsequently created the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, named in his honor and usually referred to as "EMPAC" for short.[5]
He is also president of the Priem Family Foundation, which he established with his wife Veronica in September, 1999. The foundation is non-operating (i.e., has no office or staff, and therefore, no overhead) and exists only to give money to other foundations or charities.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Liu, Phoebe (November 26, 2023). "This Nvidia Cofounder Could Have Been Worth $70 Billion. Instead He Lives Off The Grid". Forbes. Archived from the original on November 27, 2023.
- ^ "Curtis R. Priem". Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
- ^ Curtis Priem '82 Named Entrepreneur of the Year December 2000. Archived June 7, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Rensselaer Trustees Archived 2009-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ 09.11.04 Rensselaer Announces $1 Billion Capital Campaign — the Largest in the University's History September 2004. Archived October 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
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