Luminar Technologies CEO buys controlling stake in Forbes

Austin Russell, the CEO of electric vehicle technology company Luminar Technologies, has acquired an 82% stake in Forbes, reports Sara Fischer of Axios.

Fischer reports, “In a statement, Forbes confirmed that Russell had acquired an 82% majority stake in the firm.

“A source said that the transaction valued the company at $800 million, which is what the consortium group of investors had been targeting as a valuation for months.

“Yes, but: The statement doesn’t include details about how Russell financed the deal.

Sources told Axios that the firms that were interested in buying Forbes as a part of the original consortium bid, including Sun Group and GSV Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based investment group, are likely still involved in the deal.
Bringing Russell in as majority stakeholder will help alleviate regulatory concerns about Sun Group’s involvement as well as the involvement of other overseas investors.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.