Austin Russell (born March 14, 1995) is an American entrepreneur, founder and former 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 youngest ever self-made billionaire at the age of 25.[4] In May 2023, Russell began negotiating a contract to become the majority owner of Forbes, but the deal fell through in November after Russell was unable to fund it.
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]
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]
On May 14, 2025, Luminar announced via a press release that Austin Russell resigned as President, CEO, and as the Chairperson of the Board, effective immediately. The press release also stated the resignation followed a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics inquiry by the Audit Committee of Luminar’s Board of Directors.[24]
Forbes
In May 2023, Russell entered into negotiations to acquire an 82percent stake in Forbes, valuing the company at $800million.[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] Kremlin-connected tycoon Magomed Musaev claimed to be behind the attemped purchase,[27] suggesting a variety of motives, including the intent to conceal his involvement.[27] In November 2023, it was revealed the deal had collapsed due to Russell’s failure to secure the necessary funds.[4]
Philanthropy
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]
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