Jensen Huang's Gift of Japanese Whisky "Hakushu" Draws Attention
Major Domestic Retailers Already Facing "Sold Out Frenzy"
It has been reported that the gifts prepared by Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, ahead of his chicken and beer meeting with Jay Y. Lee, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, and Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, amounted to a total value of approximately 14 million won, drawing significant attention. In particular, among these gifts, the Japanese whisky "Hakushu" has become a major topic of conversation, as it is experiencing a supply shortage at major domestic distribution channels.
Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, had a chicken and beer meeting on the 30th at a chicken restaurant in Samseong-dong, Seoul, with Jay Y. Lee, Chairman of Samsung Electronics, and Chung Eui-sun, Chairman of Hyundai Motor Group, sharing a love shot. Photo by Yonhap News Agency
On the 30th, CEO Huang presented both chairmen with a bottle of Hakushu 25 Year Old Japanese whisky, bearing his autograph and a personal message, as well as Nvidia's ultra-compact AI supercomputer "DGX Spark," at Kanbu Chicken, a restaurant in Samseong-dong, Seoul.
The message read, "JAY (Jay Y. Lee's English name). TO OUR PARTNERSHIP AND FUTURE OF THE WORLD."
Hakushu 25 Year Old is a premium liquor, with a market price ranging from about 7 million to 8 million won. It is considered a rare variety even among whisky enthusiasts. Due to its scarcity, it is traded at particularly high prices in the secondary market.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang is having a chicken and beer gathering at a chicken restaurant in Samseong-dong, Seoul on the 30th, sharing a love shot with Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong. Photo by Yonhap News
The "DGX Spark" is also a high-end product, retailing for 7.15 million won in Korea. It was released in July and limited to just 1,500 units. The DGX Spark is a desktop form factor system equipped with Nvidia's GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip, offering up to 1 petaFLOP (FP4 standard) of AI computing performance and 128GB of memory. Previously, CEO Huang also gifted this product to Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla.
As the meeting between CEO Huang and the two chairmen became a hot topic, Hakushu products quickly sold out. Given that Hakushu 25 Year Old is an ultra-premium whisky, more affordable and accessible versions such as "Hakushu DR" and "Hakushu 12 Year Old" also sold out at major domestic retailers. At Lotte Mart, the Hakushu DR product sold out, and at Wine & More, operated by Shinsegae L&B, both Hakushu DR and Hakushu 12 Year Old products were sold out.
Meanwhile, it was reported that Kanbu Chicken, the unofficial meeting venue, was personally suggested by CEO Huang. "Kanbu" is a slang term meaning friend or partner, and became a symbol of friendship after being featured in the Netflix drama "Squid Game" with the line, "We are Kanbu, aren't we?" Industry insiders interpret CEO Huang's choice of venue as a message symbolizing cooperation and trust, taking into account this symbolic meaning.
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