Ousted Luminar CEO Austin Russell wants to buy the company

Austin Russell, the billionaire laminitis of Luminar, has made a bid to get the lidar-maker 5 months aft helium was replaced arsenic CEO pursuing an morals inquiry.

The takeover effort was disclosed successful an SEC filing by Russell aboriginal Friday morning. It would impact his caller company, Russell AI Labs, purchasing 100% of the outstanding shares of Luminar’s Class A Common Stock for an undisclosed price.

If it happens, Luminar would stay publically traded, and Russell AI Labs whitethorn “acquire a different, larger planetary automotive exertion company” and merge it with Luminar “to make a unified exertion level concern (‘Luminar 2.0’),” according to the filing. If that happens, Russell himself whitethorn besides put successful the recently combined company.

The connection was made connected October 14, “at the proposition of definite shareholders” of Luminar and “the invitation of definite members of the board” — though the filing does not sanction names. Luminar and Russell AI Labs did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

The projected acquisition is conscionable arsenic abrupt and astonishing arsenic Russell’s replacement successful May. Luminar announced Russell’s resignation connected May 19, the aforesaid time that the institution reported its first-quarter earnings. The institution tapped erstwhile Xerox enforcement Paul Ricci to instrumentality over.

The institution offered nary details astir wherefore Russell was retired speech from saying the board’s audit committee had conducted a “code of concern behaviour and morals inquiry.” Luminar has yet to explicate what that enquiry found. It has been sued by shareholders multiple times implicit the determination and the mode it was disclosed.

That said, Russell is nary alien to takeover attempts. In 2023, helium launched a bid to bargain Forbes. But that yet failed aft immoderate of the investors successful the acquisition reportedly didn’t travel through. The bid process was besides marred by an alleged transportation to a Russian oligarch.

Russell has remained connected Luminar’s committee and was expected to beryllium “available to the incoming Chief Executive Officer connected modulation and exertion matters,” according to the release. But he’s been absent successful astatine slightest 1 way, by failing to person signed (in his capableness arsenic a committee member) immoderate of the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission since being replaced.

In the meantime, Russell co-founded Russell AI Labs successful September on with Markus Schäfer, CTO and committee subordinate of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, and Murtaza Ahmed, a erstwhile spouse astatine the SoftBank Vision Fund. The caller institution claims it “backs and builds transformative AI and frontier exertion companies” and has already taken a $300 cardinal involvement successful agentic AI institution Emergence.