Nvidia’s historic stock boom is turning its golden handcuffs into a ticket out the door

For some Nvidia employees, the golden handcuffs of the AI boom are coming loose.

After nearly a decade at Nvidia working on chip design and AI models for biology, Ken Janik wanted to spend his time on something more personally meaningful.

So the 56-year-old left the company in August to launch his own AI research outfit, Cairn Institute, where projects range from helping the visually impaired to studying humpback whale communication.

Janik said that stock played a role in the timing of his departure, as he waited until after an especially valuable stock vest in June before leaving.

He said his next vest in September wasn’t significant. “I don’t need to work anymore,” Janik said. “Why wouldn’t I try to do the best I can in the time I’ve got left?” Tech giants use stock grants that vest over time as a strategy to retain employees.

At Nvidia, this equity has exploded.

Grants typically vest over four years, meaning some awarded in 2022 — before ChatGPT kicked off the AI boom that sent shares soaring — became incredibly valuable and have now fully vested.

Nvidia shares have risen roughly 1,400% since the end of 2022.

Grants awarded later, when Nvidia’s share price was already much higher, haven’t benefited from the same extraordinary run-up.

This can create a natural exit point for some employees who are weighing retirement.

Zuhayeer Musa, cofounder of compensation-sharing site Levels.fyi, said Nvidia’s rapid ascent can flip the effect of retention benefits, making some employees wealthy enough to leave.

Levels.fyi data illustrate the scale of these windfalls, with a focus on larger initial grants for new hires.

The median initial grant for a senior software engineer who joined the company in 2022 would be worth about $4.1 million today if they had held on to the shares, according to its analysis of offers submitted to the site.

Another former employee described a similar calculus, saying they waited for a large quarterly vest before retiring, knowing their next stock payout would have been significantly smaller.

The former employee described working at Nvidia as a 24/7 commitment, adding that it was exciting to culminate their career “at the center of the AI revolution.” “I just didn’t want that much of my life consumed by the work,” the former employee said. “If I keep working until I get as much money as possible, then I can’t ever do the things that I want to do to enjoy it.” Nvidia sales vice president Scott Baker retired in July after a 26-year tenure at the company.

He said Nvidia’s success had given him the financial freedom to spend more time with his family and pursue personal passions, such as the outdoors.

Baker said he left significant money on the table and didn’t face the same drop-off in payouts.

He said vesting can still influence timing for employees already considering retirement. “You’ve got some natural times where it just makes sense,” he said. “It didn’t change my answer by four years.

Probably.” Nvidia has grappled with newfound employee wealth before.

In 2023, Business Insider reported that some longtime employees had become so wealthy that colleagues described them as being in “semi-retirement” mode.

It’s unclear whether Nvidia’s overall retirement rate has increased, and decisions to retire can be driven by any number of personal factors.

Nvidia’s turnover rate was 3.7% in fiscal 2026, up from 2.5% the year before.

Nvidia did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The company has also seen some of its most senior leaders depart this year, including Jay Puri, the global sales chief who stepped back after 21 years; Shanker Trivedi, who retired as senior vice president of enterprise business after 17 years; and hardware engineering vice president Robert Huang, who retired after nearly 24 years.

Trivedi said stock wasn’t a factor; rather, the job itself — including the opportunity to work with CEO Jensen Huang — had kept him engaged.

Nearing 70, Trivedi wanted to dial back after decades as a “corporate athlete,” while remaining involved in the industry through mentorship and board positions. “At some stage, you have to say, ‘Hey, you gotta hand over to the next generation of leaders,'” he said.

Others didn’t peg their departures to a specific vest and pointed to the demands of working at Nvidia.

A second former employee described Nvidia as intensely mission-driven and as having a “punitive” environment that requires enormous commitment.

Once employees have accumulated enough wealth, they said, “at a certain point it becomes very attractive to just walk away because you can.” Have a tip?

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