Earlier this year, Austin Russell, the founder and CEO of Luminar, resigned from his position amid reports of being the subject of an ethics inquiry. Russell, who is 30 years old and a billionaire, is now seeking to regain control of Luminar, a company known for designing lidar sensors for self-driving cars.
According to a filing with the SEC, which was initially reported by TechCrunch, Russell aims to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Luminar’s Class A Common Stock through his new venture, Russell AI Labs. The plan is for Luminar to remain publicly listed and continue trading under its existing ticker symbol, “LAZR.”
In the SEC filing, Russell stated that his interest in acquiring the company came at the suggestion of certain shareholders and members of Luminar’s board of directors. However, details surrounding his departure have not been clarified, and Luminar has not provided information on whether the ethics inquiry yielded any findings.
Russell established Russell AI Labs in September, enlisting the expertise of Markus Schaefer, the CTO of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, and Murtaza Ahmed, a former managing partner at SoftBank. Luminar, on the other hand, has faced financial challenges over the past year, which included multiple rounds of layoffs and a near delisting from the NASDAQ.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/news/801827/ex-lidar-ceo-makes-a-bid-to-reclaim-his-company