The United States youngest billionaire Austin Russell, 26-year-old physics prodigy Austin Russell, founder of automotive sensor firm Luminar Technologies, saw his fortune surge over the last day by 36% to reach $2.1 billion.
Luminar’s shares were up 20% Tuesday on the back of the agreement to supply Nvidia with sensors for an autonomous vehicle technology platform under development the installation in consumer cars and trucks by automakers.
“The goal is to be able to do hands-off, eyes-off driving under select conditions—specifically, on highways and freeways,” Russell told Forbes.
Russell dropped out of Stanford in 2012 at the age of 17 after receiving a $100,000 grant from a program founded by VC billionaire Peter Thiel.
At the age of two he memorized the periodic table of elements, according to a Forbes profile. Russell filed his first patent at the age of 13 for a recycling system collecting water from sprinklers and saving it to reduce wastewater
By Staff
