Austin Russell, the billionaire founder of Luminar, has launched a bid to acquire the lidar company he founded, just five months after being ousted as CEO following an ethics investigation.
According to an SEC filing released early Friday, Russell’s new venture, Russell AI Labs, plans to purchase all outstanding shares of Luminar’s Class A Common Stock for an undisclosed amount.
If successful, Luminar would remain publicly traded. The filing also hints at a potential merger between Luminar and another global automotive technology company to form a unified platform dubbed “Luminar 2.0.” Russell himself may invest in the merged entity.
The offer was reportedly made on October 14 at the suggestion of certain shareholders and members of Luminar’s board, though no names were disclosed. Luminar and Russell AI Labs have not yet commented.
Russell’s ouster in May shocked investors after Luminar’s board conducted a “code of business conduct and ethics inquiry,” the results of which remain undisclosed. The company has since faced multiple shareholder lawsuits related to the incident.
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This isn’t Russell’s first attempt at a major acquisition. In 2023, he tried to buy Forbes, but the deal collapsed due to investor issues and alleged ties to a Russian oligarch.
Russell, who remains on Luminar’s board, recently co-founded Russell AI Labs with Mercedes-Benz CTO Markus Schäfer and former SoftBank Vision Fund partner Murtaza Ahmed. The new firm has already invested $300 million in agentic AI startup Emergence.
