Nvidia defends purchase of 3Dfx

TOP NVIDIAN Jen-Hsun Huang, has been defending himself in court over the acquisition of 3Dfx.

Nvidia paid $70 million for 3Dfx in 2001. Creditors of the ex-company reckon the price should have been twice that. But chief executive Huang now reckons he paid too much, suggesting it was worth more like $15 million.

However he doesn't feel he was duped, he said. "I don't consider that we were duped," he told a US court. "We offered a fair deal. And they accepted our deal and they seemed happy with it."

Also in the frame to snap up 3Dfx was Taiwanese chpi firm VIA. Nvidia had to try to out-bid VIA without knowing what it was offering. "I don't think it was in 3Dfx management's best interest to tell me what Via was offering," Huang said.

Nvidia benefitted from the acquisition by picking up personnel who had worked on 3Dfx's successful Voodoo range.

Creditors want to know what happenened to these engineers and want the purchase price explained.

The case, from which the media were initially barred, continues later today. µ

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