Who is Lisa Su? The AMD CEO with a surprising connection to Jensen Huang and emerging name for Nvidia's top job

The technology industry has been caught up in a wave of speculation following reports of Jensen Huang’s sudden departure from Nvidia. After weeks of controversy surrounding allegations of extramarital affairs, the tech billionaire’s reported exit has sparked questions about who could take over the leadership of the AI chip giant. One name attracting attention in the succession conversation is particularly interesting: Lisa Su, CEO of Nvidia’s biggest rival, AMD. As it turns out, Su and Huang are also distant cousins.

Competition in the technology industry is nothing new, but the rivalry between Lisa Su and Jensen Huang comes with an unexpected family connection. Su leads Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), one of the few companies capable of challenging Nvidia in the artificial intelligence (AI) chip market. The surprising twist is that she and Nvidia’s long-serving CEO, Jensen Huang, are distant relatives. Their relationship, however, is not particularly close, with Su once joking about their family connection: “No family dinners.” With Huang’s resignation from Nvidia, Su’s name has started appearing in Silicon Valley succession discussions, adding another interesting dimension to the rivalry between the two semiconductor companies.

How are Lisa Su and Jensen Huang related?

According to Moneywise, both Jensen Huang and Lisa Su have family roots in Taiwan, although they grew up separately and only crossed paths professionally in the semiconductor industry. A genealogist reportedly traced their family connection to Huang’s mother and Su’s grandfather, who were siblings. This makes the two tech leaders first cousins once removed.

Despite sharing an extended family connection, the pair did not grow up together or maintain close family ties. Their relationship has largely remained connected to their professional careers. Huang has spoken positively about Su, describing her as ‘terrific’ in an interview this past year. Su, meanwhile, has described their parallel careers as a wild coincidence and has pointed out that their families do not regularly meet outside their professional circles.

Meet Lisa Su: Her journey from MIT to turning AMD around

Born in Taiwan in 1969 and raised in Queens, New York, Lisa Su developed an early interest in engineering. She went on to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), earning her bachelor's, master's and PhD degrees in electrical engineering. Her doctoral research focused on semiconductor technology, laying the foundation for her future career. Su began her professional journey at Texas Instruments before spending 13 years working her way up the ranks at IBM. She subsequently joined Freescale Semiconductor as chief technology officer before moving to AMD in 2012.

At the time, AMD was facing significant challenges. The company was dealing with mounting debt, struggling to keep its processors competitive and trying to regain the position it had once held in the semiconductor industry. Su identified an opportunity to turn things around. She focused on high-performance computing, revitalised AMD’s hardware business and made it a priority to compete more effectively with Nvidia and Intel.

The introduction and growth of Ryzen and EPYC processors became important milestones in AMD’s recovery. These chips have since found their way into laptops, servers and data centres worldwide. Su’s leadership has also earned her several major honours, including TIME’s CEO of the Year and the prestigious US National Medal of Science.

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AMD’s comeback and its renewed fight with Nvidia

Under Lisa Su’s leadership, AMD has transformed its business and strengthened its position in the semiconductor industry. In the last quarter alone, the company generated a record $13.4 billion in revenue, marking a 45% increase compared with the previous year. Its data centre division, now a major part of the business, also doubled its revenue year over year.

AMD has attracted partnerships with major technology companies, including Microsoft, OpenAI, Meta, Anthropic and Oracle. However, competing with Nvidia in the AI market remains a significant challenge. Nvidia’s CUDA software ecosystem and its established developer network continue to make the company a leading choice for AI infrastructure.

Rather than simply copying Nvidia’s strategy, Su has focused on giving customers alternative options and developing AMD’s own AI ecosystem. The company is building this offering around its Instinct GPUs and EPYC processors, positioning itself as a competitor in the growing AI infrastructure market.

Could Lisa Su take over at Nvidia?

With Jensen Huang reportedly out of the picture, speculation about Nvidia’s next leader has gathered momentum. Lisa Su has emerged as one of the names being discussed, alongside Nvidia executives Colette Kress and Ian Buck, as well as Arm CEO Rene Haas.

Colette Kress, Nvidia’s longtime chief financial officer, has reportedly stepped in as interim CEO while the company considers its next move. Su’s potential involvement in the succession conversation is particularly intriguing given her position at AMD, Nvidia’s biggest rival, and her unexpected family connection to Huang. For now, her name remains part of the speculation surrounding Nvidia’s leadership, while the technology industry watches to see who could eventually take the company forward.