The most expensive home in California’s Pacific Palisades, owned by Luminar Technologies (NASDAQ: LAZR) CEO Austin Russell, has been ravaged by the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires.
What Happened: According to a Saturday report by The Daily Mail, the $125 million mansion fell victim to the Palisades Fire. The fire, still ablaze, has already destroyed over 10,000 buildings, taken two lives, and wiped out several historic landmarks.
The mansion, a key setting in the HBO’s popular series “Succession,” was previously on the rental market for a whopping $450,000 per month.
According to the report, Russell purchased the property in 2021 for $83 million. The mansion boasted 18 bedrooms, six bathrooms, a Nobu-designed chef’s kitchen, a 20-seater theater, and a temperature-controlled wine cellar.
Luminar Technologies focuses on lidar and machine perception systems, the cutting-edge technology enabling autonomous vehicles.
According to Benzinga, Luminar experienced a significant boost in its stock price last week, rising by 11.96%. The notable increase stands out amid a broader market downturn, highlighting strong investor interest in the company despite overall declines.
Two months, the company executed a reverse stock split after receiving a delisting notice from Nasdaq. The move followed a challenging period for the company, which also saw a 30% reduction in its workforce last year.
The reverse split consolidated 15 shares into one, allowing Luminar to meet Nasdaq's listing requirements. Nasdaq mandates a minimum closing bid price of $1 per share for continued listing, and companies face delisting if their stock trades below this threshold for 30 consecutive business days.
The company has developed cutting-edge platforms designed to support its partners including Volvo Cars, Mercedes-Benz, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), and Mobileye.
As per Benzinga Pro, Luminar reported a quarterly loss of $0.16 per share in 2024, beating the estimate of a $0.19 loss. This marks an improvement from the $0.21 loss per share reported in the same quarter in 2023.
Luminar Technologies, part of the Zacks Automotive – Original Equipment industry, reported revenues of $15.49 million. The earnings report reflected a positive surprise of 15.79%. In 2023, the company was projected to report a $0.20 loss per share but instead posted a smaller-than-expected loss of $0.18, delivering a 10% earnings surprise at that time.
However, the company missed consensus revenue estimates for the past four consecutive quarters.
Why It Matters: The destruction of such a high-profile property has intensified scrutiny over the local administration’s readiness for the wildfires.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) is under the microscope for her decision to cut LA Fire Department funding by $17.5 million in the 2024-2025 fiscal year. Similarly, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) is facing criticism for his decision to cut wildfire resilience funding by $101 million in June of last year.
It is unclear what the loss of such a valued asset may mean for Russell and his company.
