Austin Russell (entrepreneur)

Austin Russell is an American entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Luminar Technologies.[4] Luminar specializes in lidar and machine perception technologies, mainly used in autonomous cars. Luminar went public in December 2020, making him the world's youngest self-made billionaire at the age of 25.[5] He is the majority owner of Forbes since May 2023.

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[1]
Newport Beach, California[2]
EducationStanford University (dropped out)
Known forYoungest self-made[3] billionaire and founder and CEO of Luminar Technologies

Early life and education

Russell grew up in Newport Beach, California.[2] At age 15, Russell applied for his first patent for a ground water recycling system to reuse water from sprinklers.[6] 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[7] and chief technology officer.[8]

He graduated from St. Margaret's Episcopal School in 2013.[9] He also studied at the Beckman Laser Institute at the University of California, Irvine[10] while in high school.[10] Russell has said that he often teaches himself new skills from Wikipedia articles and YouTube videos.[11]

Luminar

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

The company spent its first five years in stealth mode.[18] Rather than purchasing components, Russell engineered and manufactured Luminar's lidar components himself.[19][20]

On December 3, 2020, Luminar went public,[21] trading on the Nasdaq as LAZR.[13] 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,[22] making Russell the world's youngest self-made billionaire.[23][24] He also became chairman of the company at this time.[21]

Forbes

In May 2023, Russell acquired an 82 percent stake in Forbes in a deal valuing the company at $800 million.[25] His majority stake includes 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]

Philanthropy

On January 1, 2022, Russell donated $4 million to Team Seas, allowing the fundraiser to reach its goal of $30 million raised.[27]

Recognition

References
  1. "This 22-Year-Old CEO Wants To Help Make Self-Driving Cars Affordable". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2022-04-16. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  2. "Where a Young Billionaire Learned Some Old Lessons". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2022-04-16. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  3. "Austin Russell". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2022-01-02. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
  4. "How The World's Youngest Self-Made Billionaire Built His Fortune". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2022-01-02. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
  5. "Austin Russell". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2022-01-02. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
  6. "World's Youngest Billionaire, 26-Year-Old Owes It All To Wikipedia & YouTube". Indiatimes. 8 April 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-04-08. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
  7. McFarland, Matt (June 14, 2018). "Volvo is the latest automaker to bet on this 23-year-old's startup". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
  8. Soderstrom, Alex (August 25, 2020). "Luminar to go public following multibillion-dollar merger". Orlando Business Journal. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
  9. James, Elysse (June 16, 2013). "2013 top graduate: Austin Russell". Orange County Register. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  10. Ohnsman, Alan (April 13, 2017). "A 22-Year-Old CEO Has A Vision For Making Self-Driving Cars A Reality". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  11. Khanna, Monit (April 8, 2021). "World's Youngest Billionaire, 26-Year-Old Owes It All To Wikipedia & YouTube". IndiaTimes. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  12. Vogel, Mike (August 26, 2019). "Orlando's self-driving startup, Luminar Technologies". Florida Trend. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
  13. 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.
  14. "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.
  15. Said, Carolyn (April 13, 2017). "Luminar makes lidar sensors to help self-driving cars see farther". SFGate. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  16. 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.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. Phillip E. Ross (May 19, 2017). "22-Year-Old Lidar Whiz Claims Breakthrough". IEEE Spectrum. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  20. Captain, Sean (April 14, 2017). "This 22-Year-Old CEO Wants To Help Make Self-Driving Cars Affordable". Fast Company. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  21. Grossman, Matt (December 3, 2020). "Luminar Rises in Market Debut, Making 25-Year-Old Founder a Billionaire". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  22. Ohnsman, Alan; Sternlichtsher, Alexandra (December 3, 2020). "Meet The World's Newest—And Youngest—Self-Made Billionaire: Luminar's Austin Russell". Forbes. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  23. Patel, Nilay (March 2, 2021). "The 25-year-old billionaire building the future of self-driving cars". The Verge. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
  24. Ohnsman, Alan (April 9, 2021). "How Austin Russell Became The Youngest Self-Made Billionaire". Forbes. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
  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. Singh, Vitasta (2 January 2022). "MrBeast's TeamSeas Reaches Its 30 Million Target Thanks to a Surprise Benefactor". EssentiallySports. Full Spectrum Services LLP. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  28. Jamie Condliffe (2017). "Pioneers". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  29. Forbes Staff (2018). "30 Under 30 Youngest". Forbes. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  30. "Austin Russell – 2021 40 Under 40". Fortune. 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
  31. Priddle, Alisa (December 13, 2021). "The 2022 MotorTrend Power List Is Here!". MotorTrend. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
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