Luminar

Austin Russell is an engineer, business leader, and self-driving industry pioneer as the Founder and CEO of Luminar Technologies (NASDAQ: LAZR), the global leader in automotive LiDAR hardware and software technology. Under Austin’s leadership, Luminar has developed the first LiDAR and software technology capable of powering production autonomous vehicles, has amassed over 50 commercial partners including the majority of the world’s largest automakers, and went public on the Nasdaq in December 2020. Austin started Luminar in 2012 at age 17 after previously working on various photonics and optoelectronics projects, architecting a new kind of LiDAR to enable safe autonomous functionality on cars, trucks, and robo-taxis, with over 100 awarded patents. At age 25, Austin has been recognized as the world’s youngest self-made billionaire. Austin is also a Thiel Fellowship, MIT Tech Review Innovators Under 35, and Forbes 30 under 30 alumni.