Austin Russell, a 28-year-old entrepreneur in the automotive technology industry, has acquired an 82% stake in Forbes Global Media Holdings for approximately $800 million. Forbes Global Media Holdings is the parent company of the well-known business magazine, Forbes. The seller, Integrated Whale Media Investments, will still retain a minority stake, but the Forbes family will not be involved, although Steve Forbes will remain active in the company.
Russell is the CEO of Luminar Technologies Inc., a company that provides autonomous driving technology to the automotive industry. While Luminar Technologies had a market capitalization of $2.1 billion, it posted sales of $40.7 million last year and was not profitable.
According to a statement, Russell intends to serve as a visionary for the Forbes brand but will not participate in day-to-day operations. Instead, Forbes plans to appoint a new board consisting of American media, technology, and artificial intelligence experts. Integrated Whale will retain one board seat.
Forbes was established in 1917 by B.C. Forbes, a Scottish immigrant and business columnist for the Hearst newspaper chain. Forbes competes with Bloomberg in providing business news.
This acquisition by Austin Russell marks a significant milestone for Forbes as it transitions into new leadership. With Russell's background in automotive technology and plans to appoint a new board consisting of media and technology experts, Forbes may experience a transformation in its approach to delivering business news. It remains to be seen how this acquisition will affect Forbes' competition with Bloomberg in the business news arena.
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