"Lidar company Luminar has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after months of layoffs, executive departures, and a legal fight with its largest customer, Volvo. The company aims to sell off its lidar business during the bankruptcy proceeding, and has already reached a deal to sell its semiconductor subsidiary. While the company will continue to operate during the bankruptcy process to "minimize disruptions" for its suppliers and customers, Luminar will eventually cease to exist once it's completed."
"Luminar founder Austin Russell abruptly resigned from the CEO role in May following a "code of business conduct and ethics inquiry," though he remained on the company's board. In October, he launched a new effort called Russell AI Labs and made a bid to buy Luminar outright. (It's unclear if Russell plans to pursue the lidar assets in the bankruptcy case; representatives for the former CEO did not immediately respond to requests for comment.)"
"The company, meanwhile, cut 25% of its workforce - its second layoff of the year. Luminar's chief financial officer left the company, the company defaulted on a number of loans, and the Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation. Luminar was also hit with an eviction lawsuit in October at one office and it exited a lease on another in November."
Luminar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after months of layoffs, executive departures, and a legal fight with its largest customer, Volvo. The company plans to sell its lidar business through a court-supervised sale process and has reached a deal to sell its semiconductor subsidiary. Operations will continue during the bankruptcy to minimize disruptions for suppliers and customers, but the company will ultimately cease to exist once the process completes. Leadership determined a court-supervised sale process is the best path forward. The company faced a tumultuous year including the founder's abrupt resignation from the CEO role, workforce reductions, CFO departure, loan defaults, and an SEC investigation.
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