Austin Russell

co-Founder & CEO, Luminar, Orlando

The world’s youngest (now 29) self-made billionaire is a college dropout whose company makes technology for self-driving cars. He dropped out of Stanford University in 2012 to start his company, Luminar Technologies, after receiving a $100,000 grant from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. Luminar uses laser-powered lidar technology to generate a 3-D map of a car’s surroundings in real time, working with major auto companies such as Mercedes-Benz and Volvo as they shift toward more automated vehicles. The publicly traded company is worth about $2.5 billion and Russell himself about $1.6 billion. Russell is establishing himself as a philanthropist. His $70-million gift to the Central Florida Foundation in 2021 nearly doubled the nonprofit's assets.