Luminar Technologies (NASDAQ: LAZR) revealed its plan to go for an IPO in August via a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company. As Coinspeaker reported, the Florida-based company merged with Gores Metropoulos, finally making its debut at Nasdaq yesterday, December 3.
Austin Russell, who founded the company at just 17, owns over 104 million shares, a third of Luminar’s outstanding equity. His equity is now worth $2.4 billion.
With the world of automotive startups enjoying its best year yet, Luminar enjoyed a great stock market debut in its IPO. The stock price has recorded a 16.62% rise in a pre-market session today to trade at $26.80 at press time. Russell described the feeling of being a billionaire as ‘totally surreal.’ Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box, he stated that his team is focusing on the long term and how Luminar can power autonomous vehicles.
“It is totally surreal and it totally makes sense and it is hard to explain the dichotomy of it, but this has always been the goal. We set up the company to be a long-term sustainable business and power the future of autonomy for all of these automakers. We are in it for the long-term.”
For the 6-foot-4 California native, a fascination with laser technology came at an early age. This interest led him to lidar technology which uses laser technology to create a 3D map, ultimately enabling autonomous machines. He joined Stanford University to study physics, dropping out later to focus on his company. He received the Thiel Fellowship from tech titan Peter Thiel, allowing him to advance Luminar to become the leader in lidar technology.
