Jensen Huang helms the world’s most valuable company, Nvidia. On Thursday night, he visited a fried chicken shop in Seoul, South Korea, accompanied by two friends. One was Jay Y Lee, chief of Samsung Electronics. Another was Chung Euisun, chief of Hyundai Motor. Put together, the three men are worth $195 billion.
They chose a local establishment named Kkanbu Chicken, a name that means really close friend in Korean slang. People of Korea love having fried chicken with cold beer, and they do have a special word for this combination-chimaek. Huang told reporters he loves this combination, too, and that’s why he chose this place.
Three billionaires ate cheese balls, cheese sticks and different kinds of fried chicken. They drank Terra beer and soju, a strong Korean rice alcohol. Video showed them linking arms to shoot shots together. In Korea, doing this shows you’re good friends.
Everyone Took Pictures
Word spread fast: these famous tech bosses were eating there. Crowds gathered outside. Journalists showed up. TV news channels aired live shots of them eating and talking. People inside the restaurant took photos like crazy. When the three men walked outside, they handed out chicken and cheese sticks to everyone watching.
“The chicken wings was so good. You ever been here before? It’s incredible, right?” Huang said, offering food to the crowd. He gave chicken to a police officer standing nearby. Later he signed autographs on whatever people handed him. This ran the gamut from a two dollar bill to someone’s skincare bag.
Stocks Went Wild Next Day
Here’s where it gets interesting. On Friday morning, chicken-related stocks in Korea jumped like crazy. Kyochon F&B is a rival chicken chain. Their shares shot up 20 percent just because of these photos. A company called Cherrybro processes chicken meat. Their stock hit the maximum daily increase allowed – 30 percent. Another company called Neuromeka makes robots that fry chicken. Trading in their shares went up almost 200 times normal volume.
This wasn’t actually about the dinner itself. Huang gave both Lee and Chung gifts-special boxes with Nvidia’s AI computer systems inside-and also gave them a note that said, “To our partnership and future of the world!” Days earlier, news reports said Nvidia planned big contracts to sell chips to Samsung and Hyundai.
Why This Matters
The Huang visit occurred during the same time as a large summit in the vicinity where President Trump was meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping. Access to AI chips is a huge issue between America and China right now. Nvidia makes the chips everyone wants for artificial intelligence.
The next day, at the summit, Huang met with Korea’s president. He announced that Nvidia would provide over 260,000 computer chips to Korean companies like Samsung and Hyundai. They’ll use them to build things like self-driving cars.
This isn’t the first time Huang has moved markets by merely showing up somewhere, or by mentioning companies. Last year several AI stocks jumped after he spoke about them in a presentation. When you run the world’s most valuable company, people watch your every move.
News At Glance
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had fried chicken with the bosses of Samsung and Hyundai in Seoul.
- Photos went viral, causing Korean chicken-related stocks to jump 20-30 percent the next day.
- The three billionaires paid for everyone’s meals at the restaurant.
- Huang gave gifts of Nvidia AI systems to the other two executives.
- Deals with Korean companies on major chip supplies were announced after the meeting.
FAQs:
Q: Why did stocks go up due to a dinner photo?
A: Investors saw the meeting as big business deals in the making between Nvidia, Samsung, and Hyundai. The gifts and friendly meeting suggested partnerships worth billions.
Q: Did the chicken restaurant benefit?
A: Kkanbu Chicken isn’t publicly traded so no stock to buy. But their competitor Kyochon jumped 20 percent and related chicken companies saw huge gains.
Q: What were they really doing there?
A: More than that, they were solidifying business relationships. A day later, Huang announced that Nvidia would supply 260,000 chips to Korean companies.
Q: Is this normal in Korea?
A: Korean stocks often move on such viral moments and celebrity appearances, especially smaller companies. It is not necessarily based on hard business fundamentals.
Q: What did they eat?
A: Cheese balls, cheese sticks, boneless chicken, regular fried chicken, Terra beer, and soju. Classic Korean chimaek: chicken and beer combo.
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