Austin Russell (entrepreneur)
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 the world's youngest self-made billionaire at the age of 25.[4] He is in negotiating a contract to become the majority owner of Forbes since May 2023 according to Fortune Magazine.
Austin Russell | |
|---|---|
Russell in 2018 | |
| Born | March 14, 1995[1] Newport Beach, California[2] |
| Education | Stanford University (dropped out) |
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.[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
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 self-made billionaire.[22][23] He also became chairman of the company at this time.[20]
Forbes
In May 2023, Russell entered into negotiations to acquire an 82 percent stake in Forbes in a deal valuing the company at $800 million.[24] If the transaction proceeds, his majority stake would include 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.[25]
Philanthropy
On January 1, 2022, Russell donated $4 million to Team Seas, allowing the fundraiser to reach its goal of $30 million raised.[26] In 2021, he donated $70 million to the Central Florida Foundation, ranking him among the top 50 philanthropists globally, that year.[27]
Recognition
- In 2017, MIT Technology Review named Russell an "Innovator Under 35".[28]
- In 2018, Forbes named Russell to its "30 Under 30" list for founding and leading Luminar.[29]
- Russell appeared on the Fortune magazine 40 Under 40 list in 2021.[30]
- Motor Trend ranked Russell #41 on its 2022 Power List.[31]
References
- ^ "This 22-Year-Old CEO Wants To Help Make Self-Driving Cars Affordable". Forbes. from the original on 2022-04-16. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
- ^ a b c Lublin, Joann S. (20 March 2021). "Where a Young Billionaire Learned Some Old Lessons". Wall Street Journal. from the original on 2022-04-16. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
- ^ "How The World's Youngest Self-Made Billionaire Built His Fortune". Forbes. from the original on 2022-01-02. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
- ^ "Austin Russell". Fortune. from the original on 2022-01-02. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
- ^ "World's Youngest Billionaire, 26-Year-Old Owes It All To Wikipedia & YouTube". Indiatimes. 8 April 2021. from the original on 2021-04-08. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
- ^ McFarland, Matt (June 14, 2018). "Volvo is the latest automaker to bet on this 23-year-old's startup". CNNMoney. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
- ^ Soderstrom, Alex (August 25, 2020). "Luminar to go public following multibillion-dollar merger". Orlando Business Journal. Retrieved 2022-01-02.
- ^ James, Elysse (June 16, 2013). "2013 top graduate: Austin Russell". Orange County Register. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ Khanna, Monit (April 8, 2021). "World's Youngest Billionaire, 26-Year-Old Owes It All To Wikipedia & YouTube". IndiaTimes. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
- ^ a b Vogel, Mike (August 26, 2019). "Orlando's self-driving startup, Luminar Technologies". Florida Trend. Retrieved 2022-04-16.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Said, Carolyn (April 13, 2017). "Luminar makes lidar sensors to help self-driving cars see farther". SFGate. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Phillip E. Ross (May 19, 2017). "22-Year-Old Lidar Whiz Claims Breakthrough". IEEE Spectrum. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
- ^ Captain, Sean (April 14, 2017). "This 22-Year-Old CEO Wants To Help Make Self-Driving Cars Affordable". Fast Company. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Patel, Nilay (March 2, 2021). "The 25-year-old billionaire building the future of self-driving cars". The Verge. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
- ^ Ohnsman, Alan (April 9, 2021). "How Austin Russell Became The Youngest Self-Made Billionaire". Forbes. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- ^ Fischer, Sara (May 12, 2023). "Forbes acquired by Luminar Technologies' Austin Russell". Axios.
- ^ Bruell, Alexandra (May 12, 2023). "Automotive Tech Billionaire Austin Russell to Acquire Majority Stake in Forbes". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "26-Year-Old's $70 Million Donation Puts Him on the List of Top Donors of 2021". The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
- ^ Jamie Condliffe (2017). "Pioneers". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
- ^ Forbes Staff (2018). "30 Under 30 Youngest". Forbes. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
- ^ "Austin Russell – 2021 40 Under 40". Fortune. 2021. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
- ^ Priddle, Alisa (December 13, 2021). "The 2022 MotorTrend Power List Is Here!". MotorTrend. Retrieved December 14, 2021.