In September 2018, Mellanox received a nonbinding purchase offer from an outside company at $102 per share—­a premium of almost a third over its current stock price of $76.90. Mellanox was now fully in play. It solicited an investment bank to seek other bidders and eventually expanded its list of potential buyers to seven in total.

Jensen wasn't thinking about acquiring Mellanox when it became available, according to another Nvidia executive. But he quickly saw the strategic importance of the asset, decided Nvidia had to win the auction, and joined the hunt in October.