World’s youngest self-made billionaire Austin Russell recommends dropping out of college
The world’s youngest self-made billionaire has said he “absolutely” recommends dropping out of college, arguing that higher education is “not for everyone.”
Austin Russell, 28, from California, left Stanford University in 2012 to start his own company, Luminar Technologies, after being awarded a $100,000 grant from a prestigious grant.
He became a billionaire virtually overnight in December 2020 when Luminar Technologies, the tech company he founded when he was just 17, went public.
Austin, who continues to lead the company, which develops laser-based radar sensor technology for cars, is now worth an impressive $2.6 billion.
Speak against CNBC makes itAustin said, “College isn’t for everyone. It’s just kind of a traditional approach to what you do and what you should be doing.’
World’s youngest self-made billionaire Austin Russell, 28, of California, ‘absolutely’ recommends dropping out of college because it’s ‘not for everyone’
When asked if he would advise other students to stop studying, the entrepreneur replied: ‘Absolutely.’
He added: ‘All this information is now available online. This is not something that was true 50 years ago, [but] it’s completely true now.’
The businessman even claimed that he would still have dropped out of college if he hadn’t been awarded the scholarship for her tech start-up.
In 2021, Forbes named him the world’s youngest self-made billionaire at just 26 years old – and he quickly acquired a palatial property to cement his new status.
One of the incredible homes used as the setting for the HBO show Succession is owned by Austin.
His father Michael, a native of California, worked in commercial real estate while his mother is former model and actress Shannon Cleye, best known for her role in The Young and the Restless.
An optical prodigy, Russell developed the idea for Luminar when he was just 17 and studying physics at Stanford University.
He left Stanford University in 2012 to start his own company, Luminar Technologies, after being awarded a $100,000 grant from the Peter Thiel Fellowship
One of the incredible homes used as a set for HBO’s Succession is owned by a real life billionaire. The mega-mansion is located in the exclusive Pacific Palisades neighborhood of LA
He dropped out of college after just three months in 2012 when he was awarded a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship thanks to a program funded by billionaire Peter Thiel to nurture entrepreneurs.
He worked behind the scenes for five years creating Luminar’s lidar hardware and software, which he released to the public in 2017.
Following Luminar’s listing on Nasdaq, Russell became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire at just 25 years old.
In 2021, he sold 10 percent of his stock holdings in the company, raising $220 million in cash. The next day, he closed the $83 million California estate.
The house, located on the Pacific Palisades just outside Los Angeles and has six bedrooms and a whopping 18 bathrooms, appears in the first episode of the fourth and final series of Succession.
Austin founded Luminar Technologies in 2012 and continues to lead the company, which develops laser-based radar sensor technology for cars
The grandeur provides the perfect backdrop for the scene, as Logan’s competitive and ambitious offspring plan their next steps.
Built over several years by developer Ardie Tavangarian, who is no stranger to wealthy, powerful clients, the property is equipped with every amenity imaginable.
Tavangarian bought the one-acre hilltop estate in 2013 for about $7.3 million and built the 20,000-square-foot mansion of billionaires’ dreams.
The breathtaking home was available to rent for $350,000 a month in 2020, but was quickly snapped up by Russell for a cool $83 million.
The property’s panoramic view allows the owner to see right over the LA skyline and out to the Pacific Ocean, with what realtors describe as one of the top 5 views in the city.
It sits at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac in the coveted Riviera neighborhood of Palisades, and right next door is the $26 million primary residence of Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson.
According to reports, the house is equipped with a state-of-the-art indoor cinema and a 20-seat outdoor cinema.
It has a full guest wing with five suites, a gym and a home spa that can accommodate 12 guests and has a separate massage room.
Succession takes viewers to a world of wealth beyond most people’s imagination, tells the story of fictional media mogul Roy Logan (pictured, played by Brian Cox) and showcases his family’s lavish homes
Russell also paid a whopping $10.6 million for a 13,000-square-foot mansion in Winter Park, near his company’s Orlando headquarters
It has a family kitchen, designed by Nobu, and outside is a beautiful infinity pool, from which rises a 12-meter-high curved wall that cost $2 million to build.
For petrol enthusiasts, it has a car gallery and a car turntable so no one has to back up the impressive driveway. The garage doubles as a dance floor.
The star of the show is the home’s stunning master suite, accessible only through a retina scanner.
It has a private balcony and an incredible retractable glass roof that can be used as a screen for movies and pulled back to gaze at the stars.
Shortly after buying the house, Russell said in 2020 that the feature makes you feel like “sleeping outside.”
“It’s like a campfire environment in your own home,” he told the Wall Street Journal.
His company is based in Orlando, where Russell owns another impressive mega-mansion – albeit one that pales in comparison to his LA block.
Dirt reports that he bought the property just two months after buying his West Coast home, paying a whopping $10.6 million for a 13,000-square-foot mansion in Winter Park.
The home is just 11 miles from Luminar’s Orlando headquarters, and according to reports, Russell’s purchase was the second largest residential real estate deal in Central Florida history.
His second, slightly smaller home has 10 bedrooms and 10.5 bathrooms.
First built in 1925, the historic property received a full renovation and expansion in 2018 and sits behind grand gates on a narrow spit of land between Florida’s Lake Virginia and Lake Mizell.