© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A logo for Forbes magazine is seen on the board of directors of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2017 (SPIEF 2017) in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 1, 2017. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File photo
(Reuters) – Luminar Technologies CEO Austin Russell to buy majority stake Russell and Integrated Whale Media Investments (IWM) said in a statement on Friday that acquiring a stake in Forbes Global Media Holdings would value the business news publisher. valued at nearly $800 million.
The auto tech billionaire has agreed to buy 82 percent of Forbes, including the remainder of the company owned by the Forbes family, the joint statement to Reuters said.
Russell will not be involved in the day-to-day operations of the company, the statement said, adding that the acquisition was funded independently of his stake in Luminar.
It’s unclear how Russell financed the deal.
As part of the deal, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Forbes’ Hong Kong parent company, IWM, will retain a minority stake in the company and retain a seat on the board. Forbes will also add to the company a new board of directors made up of experts in American media, technology and artificial intelligence, the statement added.
“Now with this transaction, true innovator and visionary Austin Russell will become the brand’s new steward,” Forbes CEO Mike Federer said in a statement to Reuters.
The statement stated that Steve Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media, will remain with the company.
Forbes is one of the oldest media outlets in the United States, and its eponymous flagship magazine has 5 million readers.
