The shareholders of Forbes Global terminated the agreement to sell the media company to a group of investors led by Austin Russell.
This is stated in the statement of the company cited by Bloomberg.
"There has been no shortage of investment interest in our company over the years, and we will continue to consider other opportunities that can help accelerate our growth strategy," the company said.
In May 2023, Russell and Hong Kong-based Integrated Whale Media Investments (IWM) announced that they had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest in Forbes Global Media Holdings.
In October, The Washington Post journalists got access to audio and video recordings, where the Russian oligarch Magomed Musayev says that he "bought the global Forbes", and formally everything was arranged on Russell. Austin himself denied Russian connections.
- Austin Russell is currently 28 years old and is the youngest billionaire in the world. His company, Luminar Technologies, developed the first lidar software technology capable of powering mass-produced autonomous vehicles. According to Forbesʼ list of billionaires, Austin Russellʼs fortune is $1.6 billion.