Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was spotted sharing fried chicken and beer with Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y Lee and Hyundai Motor Executive Chairman Chung Euisun at local restaurant Kkanbu Chicken in Seoul, South Korea on Thursday night. What started as a casual dinner turned into a viral sensation—and stock market ripples.
Media frenzy and public reaction
Photos of the trio quickly lit up social media, drawing crowds of fans, journalists and even national broadcasters, who broadcast live footage of the executives eating, drinking and chatting. Diners at the restaurant were seen taking pictures, and Jensen Huang later signed autographs, including a $2 bill and a skincare gift bag, and handed the food to a nearby police officer, Business Insider reported.
Market reaction to the image
While Kkanbu Chicken is not publicly listed, its rival, Kyochon F&B, saw its shares rise as much as 20% on Friday after the viral images spread on social media.
Korean poultry processor Cherrybro hit its daily limit of 30% and Kosdaq-listed Neuromeka, which makes robotic chicken fryers, saw a nearly 200-fold increase in trading volume, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
This is not the first time the South Korean market has responded to viral moments. Shares of one pen maker once rallied after the mention of Donald Trump. That trend, often in small-cap Kosdaq stocks, is rarely driven by fundamentals and often lacks any real connection to the company’s operations, Bloomberg reported.
What does this mean for companies?
Dinner wasn’t all about Chi-maek (a Korean combination of chicken and beer). Jensen Huang presented both Jay Y Lee and Chung Euisun with Nvidia branded DGX boxes – a range of the company’s AI systems. Lee later showed cameras a note signed by Huang that read: “To our partnership and the future of the world!”
The meeting comes just days after Bloomberg published a report on Tuesday saying that Nvidia plans to reveal chip supply contracts to both Samsung and Hyundai. Huang’s trip to South Korea also coincided with US President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
This is not the first time that the CEO of Nvidia has moved the markets. In 2024, the shares of several AI-related companies rose after he mentioned them during a presentation, showing how Huang’s influence extends beyond his company.
