Nvidia is the company that has probably benefited the most from the ongoing AI boom, with its stock shooting up amid high chip and processor demand and the company becoming the most valued enterprise in the world, with its market capitalisation rising to $4.6 trillion.
Although the company still employs a relatively low number of people (36,000), given its size and scale, its stock has appreciated in the last few years, turning a number of long-standing employees into multi-millionaires, according to Levels.fyi data quoted by Business Insider.
Jensen Huang, the company's president and CEO, said in an episode of the All-In podcast last year that he personally reviews employee compensation. "I review everybody's compensation up to this day at the end of every cycle," he said, while adding that he has "created more billionaires on my management team than any CEO in the world."
Although the company doesn't publicly disclose the salaries it pays its employees, this can be seen in work visa filings, which are publicly available. The company submits filings to the US Labor Department when sponsoring H-1B visas. The figures available reflect the base pay of their employees and not the bonuses and equity they receive, which form a considerable chunk of their pay packages.
In fiscal 2025, Nvidia received around 1,900 certified H-1B visa applications covering roles such as research scientists, product managers, and software engineers, according to Business Insider.
Other Big Tech companies, such as Google, Meta, and Microsoft, are also paying similar amounts amid the AI boom. Here we take a look at the base salaries Nvidia pays across key positions, as per filings seen by Business Insider:
Engineer salaries
ASIC Engineer: $163,925 – $368,000
CAD Engineer: $136,000 – $310,500
DevOps Engineer: $140,000 – $270,250
Hardware Engineer: (Electronics) $92,000 – $368,000
Manager, Engineering: $203,879 – $391,000
Mask Design Engineer: $110,187 – $230,000
Mechanical Engineer: $102,336 – $247,250
Mixed Signal Design Engineer: $151,091 – $310,500
Physical Design Engineer: $96,000 – $310,500
Senior ASIC Engineer: $128,000 – $310,500
Senior Systems Software Engineer: $117,499 – $356,500
Software Engineer: $92,000 – $425,500
Software QA Engineer: $133,432 – $322,000
System Design Engineer: $124,197 – $253,000
Systems Software Manager: $208,125 – $425,500
Test Engineer: $124,197 – $287,500
Verification Engineer: $119,184 – $368,000
Architect Salaries
Architect: $104,000 – $425,500
Architecture Manager: $207,093 – $425,500
Senior Architect: $150,821 – $356,500
Solutions Architect: $108,722 – $356,500
Research Scientist
Research Scientist: $104,000 – $431,250
Product & Analyst Roles
Business Systems Analyst: $140,000 – $310,500
Product Manager: $131,029 – $379,500
Program Manager: $75,462 – $368,000
