Austin Russell

Austin Russell is an American engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of lidar company Luminar Technologies. Russell was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2018. In December 2020, when Luminar Initial public offering, Russell became the world's youngest self-made billionaire at the age of 25.
==Early life and education==
Russel grew up in Newport Beach, California. At age 2, he memorized the periodic table. According to Russell, he began writing software at age 10 or 11. In the sixth grade, he programmed the firmware in his Nintendo DS to turn it into a working cell phone. He converted the family garage into an electrical and optics research laboratory when he was 11, paid for by winnings from Super Smash Bros. tournaments. When he was 13, he invented a water recycling system he later patented and began to focus his studies on optics and photonics. At age 15, he built a holographic keyboard to take notes in class. That same year, Russell's parents introduced him to laser entrepreneur Jason Eichenholz, who became Russell's mentor and later joined Luminar as co-founder and chief technology officer.
Russell received his first patent at age 17. He graduated from St. Margaret's Episcopal School in 2013. He also studied at the Beckman Laser Institute at the University of California, Irvine while in high school. Russell uses social media infrequently, but he often teaches himself new skills from Wikipedia articles and YouTube videos.
==Luminar==
Russell's early interest in optics and lasers led to a focus on the use of lidar technology for self-driving cars. He started working with lidar at age 14 or 15. He founded Luminar in 2012 while he was still in high school, shortly before turning 17. After graduating from high school, he attended Stanford University for three months, taking courses in applied physics. He dropped out in 2013 when he received a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship, which gave him the opportunity to devote himself to Luminar full time.
The company spent its first five years in stealth mode. Rather than building a system with off the shelf components, Russell engineered and manufactured all major components of Luminar's lidar system from the chip level up. By the time Luminar was ready to emerge from stealth mode, Russell had brought Luminar to its seventh-generation application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design and a fully integrated technology stack. Luminar's prototype sensor detected objects at a range of up to 200 meters.
On December 3, 2020, Luminar went public, trading on the Nasdaq as LAZR. Russell's 104.7 million shares, roughly one third of Luminar's outstanding equity, were worth $2.4 billion at the close of trading on December 3, making Russell the world's youngest self-made billionaire. He also became chairman of the company and continued to hold roughly 83% of the company's voting power.
==Recognition==
*In 2017, MIT Technology Review named Russell an "Innovator Under 35".
*In 2018, Forbes named Russell to its "30 Under 30" list for founding and leading Luminar. He also appeared in the Under 30 "hall of fame" list of 30 all-time alumni in 2021.
*Russell appeared on the Fortune (magazine) magazine 40 Under 40 list in 2021.
*Motor Trend ranked Russell #41 on its 2022 Power List.
Category:1995 births
Category:American billionaires
Category:American technology chief executives
Category:American technology company founders
Category:American industrial designers
Category:People from Newport Beach, California