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Austin Russell (entrepreneur)

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This article is about the American entrepreneur and businessman. For the reality television personality, see Chumlee.

Austin Russell
Russell in 2018
Russell in 2018
Born (1995-03-14) March 14, 1995 (age 29)[1]
Newport Beach, California[2]
EducationStanford University (dropped out)

Austin Russell (born March 14, 1995) is an American entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Luminar Technologies.[3] Luminar specializes in lidar and machine perception technologies, mainly used in autonomous cars. Luminar went public in December 2020, making him a billionaire at the age of 25.[4] He was negotiating a contract to become the majority owner of Forbes from May 2023 to November 2023 according to Fortune Magazine and Axios.

Early life and education

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Russell grew up in Newport Beach, California.[2] At age 15, Russell applied for his first patent for a groundwater recycling system to reuse water from sprinklers.[5] When he was 15, Russell's parents introduced him to laser entrepreneur Jason Eichenholz, who became Russell's mentor and later joined Luminar as co-founder[6] and chief technology officer.[7]

He graduated from St. Margaret's Episcopal School in 2013.[8] He also studied at the Beckman Laser Institute at the University of California, Irvine[9] while in high school.[9] Russell has said that he often teaches himself new skills from Wikipedia articles and YouTube videos.[10]

Luminar

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Russell founded Luminar in 2012[11] while he was still in high school,[12] shortly before turning 17.[2] After graduating from high school, he attended Stanford University for three months,[13] taking courses in applied physics.[14] Russell won $100,000 from the Thiel Fellowship in 2013, leading him to drop out[15][11] and focus on Luminar full-time.[16]

The company spent its first five years in stealth mode.[17] Rather than purchasing components, Russell engineered and manufactured Luminar's lidar components himself.[18][19]

On December 3, 2020, Luminar went public,[20] trading on the Nasdaq as LAZR.[12] Russell's 104.7 million shares, roughly one-third of Luminar's equity, were worth $2.4 billion at the close of trading on December 3,[21] making Russell the world's youngest billionaire.[22][23] He also became chairman of the company at this time.[20]

Despite early criticism from Elon Musk, who previously referred to lidar technology as a "fools errand," Tesla spent around $2 million on lidar tech, according to a 2024 quarterly earnings report from Luminar.[24]

Forbes

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In May 2023, Russell entered into negotiations to acquire an 82 percent stake in Forbes , valuing the company at $800 million.[25] If the transaction had proceeded, his majority stake would have included the remaining portion of the company owned by the Forbes family, which was not previously sold to Hong Kong-based investor group Integrated Whale Media.[26] According to The Washington Post, a Kremlin-connected tycoon has claimed to be behind the purchase [27] and has suggested a variety of motives, including the intent to conceal his involvement.[1] In November 2023, it was revealed the deal had collapsed due to Russell’s failure to secure the necessary funds.[4]

Philanthropy

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On January 1, 2022, Russell donated $4 million to Team Seas, allowing the fundraiser to reach its goal of $30 million raised.[28] In 2021, he donated $70 million to the Central Florida Foundation, ranking him among the top 50 philanthropists globally, that year.[29]

Recognition

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References

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  1. ^ "This 22-Year-Old CEO Wants To Help Make Self-Driving Cars Affordable". Forbes. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Lublin, Joann S. (March 20, 2021). "Where a Young Billionaire Learned Some Old Lessons". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  3. ^ "How The World's Youngest Self-Made Billionaire Built His Fortune". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 2, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Austin Russell". Fortune. Archived from the original on January 2, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  5. ^ "World's Youngest Billionaire, 26-Year-Old Owes It All To Wikipedia & YouTube". Indiatimes. April 8, 2021. Archived from the original on April 8, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  6. ^ McFarland, Matt (June 14, 2018). "Volvo is the latest automaker to bet on this 23-year-old's startup". CNNMoney. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  7. ^ Soderstrom, Alex (August 25, 2020). "Luminar to go public following multibillion-dollar merger". Orlando Business Journal. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
  8. ^ James, Elysse (June 16, 2013). "2013 top graduate: Austin Russell". Orange County Register. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Ohnsman, Alan (April 13, 2017). "A 22-Year-Old CEO Has A Vision For Making Self-Driving Cars A Reality". Forbes. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  10. ^ Khanna, Monit (April 8, 2021). "World's Youngest Billionaire, 26-Year-Old Owes It All To Wikipedia & YouTube". IndiaTimes. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Vogel, Mike (August 26, 2019). "Orlando's self-driving startup, Luminar Technologies". Florida Trend. Retrieved April 16, 2022.
  12. ^ a b Rosenbaum, Eric (December 3, 2020). "Luminar going public makes 25-year-old Austin Russell one of world's first, and youngest, self-driving billionaires". CNBC. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  13. ^ "Luminar thinks its lidar for driverless cars can leave Waymo's and Uber's in the dust". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. April 13, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  14. ^ Said, Carolyn (April 13, 2017). "Luminar makes lidar sensors to help self-driving cars see farther". SFGate. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  15. ^ Megan Rose Dickey (May 9, 2013). "Peter Thiel Is Giving These 20 Teenagers $100,000 To Drop Out Of School And Start A Company". Business Insider. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  16. ^ Blasi, Weston (December 4, 2020). "This 25-year-old is now a billionaire, after his self-driving car company Luminar went public". MarketWatch. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  17. ^ Gilder, George (2018). Life after Google: The Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain Economy. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781621575764. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  18. ^ Phillip E. Ross (May 19, 2017). "22-Year-Old Lidar Whiz Claims Breakthrough". IEEE Spectrum. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  19. ^ Captain, Sean (April 14, 2017). "This 22-Year-Old CEO Wants To Help Make Self-Driving Cars Affordable". Fast Company. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  20. ^ a b Grossman, Matt (December 3, 2020). "Luminar Rises in Market Debut, Making 25-Year-Old Founder a Billionaire". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  21. ^ Ohnsman, Alan; Sternlichtsher, Alexandra (December 3, 2020). "Meet The World's Newest—And Youngest— Billionaire: Luminar's Austin Russell". Forbes. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  22. ^ Patel, Nilay (March 2, 2021). "The 25-year-old billionaire building the future of self-driving cars". The Verge. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  23. ^ Ohnsman, Alan (April 9, 2021). "How Austin Russell Became The Youngest Billionaire". Forbes. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  24. ^ Altchek, Ana. "Tesla quietly spent $2 million on a technology Elon Musk previously trashed as a 'fool's errand'". Business Insider. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  25. ^ Fischer, Sara (May 12, 2023). "Forbes acquired by Luminar Technologies' Austin Russell". Axios.
  26. ^ Bruell, Alexandra (May 12, 2023). "Automotive Tech Billionaire Austin Russell to Acquire Majority Stake in Forbes". The Wall Street Journal.
  27. ^ Belton, Catherine; Frankel, Todd C.; Dwoskin, Elizabeth (October 20, 2023). "Russian tycoon claims he is behind Forbes purchase, audiotapes show". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
  28. ^ Singh, Vitasta (January 2, 2022). "MrBeast's TeamSeas Reaches Its 30 Million Target Thanks to a Surprise Benefactor". EssentiallySports. Full Spectrum Services LLP. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  29. ^ "26-Year-Old's $70 Million Donation Puts Him on the List of Top Donors of 2021". The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  30. ^ Jamie Condliffe (2017). "Pioneers". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  31. ^ Forbes Staff (2018). "30 Under 30 Youngest". Forbes. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  32. ^ "Austin Russell – 2021 40 Under 40". Fortune. 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  33. ^ Priddle, Alisa (December 13, 2021). "The 2022 MotorTrend Power List Is Here!". MotorTrend. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
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