Forbes Global Media Holdings has a new owner. Austin Russell, the 28-year-old billionaire and founder of electric vehicle startup Luminar Technologies, has acquired a majority stake in a deal that values the company at 800 million dollars and is the new owner of Forbes.

Russell's 82% stake includes what until now were the Forbes family's last remaining shares, closing a cycle of just over a century of family ownership. Integrated Whale Media, the Hong Kong-based company that until Friday had been Forbes' majority shareholder since 2014, will retain a minority stake.

According to Austin Russell, "Forbes is a brand I've always admired as a media empire," adding that he will not be involved in news coverage or the day-to-day operations of the company, but will focus on "philanthropy" and growing the business.

Austin Russell created Luminar in 2012, when he left Stanford, helped by a donation of 100,000 dollars from investor Peter Thiel, as part of the Thiel Fellowship program, founded in 2011, which supports students with disruptive ideas. Meanwhile, since 2021, he has been on the Forbes Under 30 list and in the ranking of the world's youngest billionaires.

"This is an important milestone in Forbes' history and an achievement that everyone on the Forbes team should be proud of. For more than 105 years, innovation has been part of Forbes' DNA and has kept us at the forefront of our industry. It's fitting that now, through this transaction, a true innovator and visionary, Austin Russell, is the new brand steward," says Forbes Global Media Holdings CEO Mike Federle. (Forbes)