Austin Russell, 26, is the youngest self-made billionaire on Forbes' annual list of the world's billionaires, released on Tuesday. Russell became a billionaire virtually overnight in December when his company, Luminar Technologies, was listed on the Nasdaq via an SPAC merger.
Forbes estimated Russell's net worth at $2.4 billion.The 6-foot-4 entrepreneur dropped out of Stanford in 2012 to found laser lidar (an acronym for light, detection and ranging) startup Luminar Technologies after getting a $100,000 fellowship from billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel in 2012 and dropped out of Stanford to found Luminar Technologies, which builds sensors for autonomous vehicles.Its sensors now help self-driving cars of such customers as Volvo, Toyota and Intel’s Mobileye see in 3D. The company listed via a SPAC merger in December 2020, catapulting him into the billionaire ranks overnight. At age 26, he is the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.
The company's sensors have been used to create self-driving cars at companies like Volvo and Toyota. Luminar's technology relies on lidar, which uses pulses of light to create a 3D map of a car's environment, allowing it to determine the best course and avoid obstacles.
In 2019, Tesla CEO Elon Musk called the technology "doomed." Instead of lidar - which has become popular with automotive companies including Alphabet's Waymo - Tesla relies on external cameras for its "Full Self-Driving" software.
Russell replaced Kylie Jenner on the list after Forbes' removed her last May, saying her net worth had been overvalued in the documents she provided.
Russell is one of four self-made billionaires on Forbes' 2021 list who are in their 20s; the others are the founders of DoorDash, Andy Fang and Stanley Tang, and the crypto investor Sam Bankman-Fried. All four are new additions to the list.
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