Jensen Huang once worked as a Denny’s dishwasher; restaurant removes his plaque, now makes U-turn

Denny’s is restoring the local shrine to Nvidia at the Silicon Valley diner where Jensen Huang famously founded the company in 1993. The development comes after “bosses” at the restaurant hastily removed it shortly after the disgraced chip titan resigned as CEO, reported The New York Post. Before building Nvidia with his wife Lori Huang in 1993, when the former Nvidia chief executive was a teenager in the US, his first job was waiting tables and washing dishes at a branch of Denny’s.

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“It teaches you humility, it teaches you hard work, it teaches you hospitality,” he said in 2023 of his time at the diner chain. Decades later, having become one of the richest people on the planet, Huang even put on a Denny’s apron in tribute to his former employer at an Nvidia event in 2025.

The plaque was put up during a 2023 ceremony attended by Huang and Denny’s then-CEO Kelli Valade. Huang recalled working as a dishwasher and waiter at a Denny’s in Portland, Oregon, when he was 15. During the meeting, they also discussed how Nvidia was founded.

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Denny’s removes Jensen Huang plaque

Amidst the scandal involving former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, the original Denny’s location where he once worked removed the plaque that celebrated his success. But later on, the restaurant announced that it was re-installing it. The plaque was presented on Sept. 26, 2023, by the CEO of Denny’s, Kelli Valade, highlighting the very booth Huang conceived his idea for Nvidia.

A framed plaque and photographs had hung for years above the famous booth at a Denny’s in San Jose, California, where Huang and his two co-founders, Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, came up with the idea for what would become the chipmaker leading the artificial intelligence boom. “The booth that launched a $1 trillion company,” the inscription read in all-caps. Denny’s released the following statement on the matter:
“We’re reinstalling the plaque recognizing the conversations at Denny’s that helped launch NVIDIA. Jensen Huang started at Denny’s as a dishwasher. Years later, he and his co-founders gathered in one of our booths to discuss the idea that became NVIDIA. The plaque commemorates that shared history. America’s Diner has long been a place where people and ideas come together, and that history deserves to be preserved.”

A Denny’s spokesperson told the New York Post: “We’re reinstalling the plaque recognizing the conversations at Denny’s that helped launch Nvidia,” but didn’t offer an explanation about why it had been removed. “America’s Diner has long been a place where people and ideas come together, and that history deserves to be preserved.”

A server at the Denny’s recalled that he had served Jensen Huang on several occasions and was once given a $300 tip by the tech tycoon. He said Huang ordered pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage and that Huang gave $100 to every server, cook and dishwasher.

Why did Jensen Huang resign?

Jensen Huang was forced to resign following a series of allegations in recent weeks over his conduct while at the helm of Nvidia. The tech titan confessed last week to an affair with alleged Chinese spy Alice Huang. Huang also faced allegations that he had an affair with Kimberly Powell, Nvidia’s vice president of health care — an exec who reports to him.

Reuters reported Thursday that Huang had an intimate relationship with a second Nvidia employee, citing unnamed sources. Her name and other details were not known. Colette Kress, Nvidia’s chief financial officer and executive vice president, is serving as interim CEO.