If you’ve ever wanted to see what a grown-up version of hide and seek looks like in the startup world… may I present to you: Luminar.

The lidar maker (currently Chapter 11, RIP-ish) just told a bankruptcy court that its founder and former CEO, Austin Russell, has apparently gone full Where’s Waldo?... except Waldo lives in a Florida mansion, employs private security, and really doesn’t want to hand over his phone.

According to an emergency filing, Luminar says Russell has been dodging requests for information it needs to decide whether to sue him. That includes (and this is key) company-owned devices. While Luminar managed to recover six computers (progress!), Russell’s company-issued phone and a digital copy of his personal phone remain at large, presumed hiding behind a very motivated security team.

Things really escalated on New Year’s Day.

Luminar arranged for a forensic examiner to show up at Russell’s Florida mansion to collect the remaining data. According to Luminar, the technician was turned away by Russell’s security team, which their lawyers labeled “unacceptable.”

(Source: TechCrunch)

Russell’s version? The technician showed up unannounced, early on a holiday morning, while he was asleep… and once again, Russell insisted he just wants basic guarantees that Luminar won’t rifle through personal data.

Cue the legal tennis match. Russell insists he’s been cooperative… he just wants ironclad assurances that Luminar won’t snoop through personal data. Luminar says it has no interest in anything beyond company-related material. Lawyers then proceeded to argue about this via email like divorced parents negotiating custody of an iPhone.

This mess is one of the first big plot twists in Luminar’s bankruptcy, which is moving fast and already unraveling. The company is trying to sell itself in pieces… its semiconductor subsidiary is slated to be sold to Quantum Computing, Inc., while the lidar business faces a January 9 bidding deadline.

Now for the part that really sends the awkward meter into the red. Russell (through his new venture, Russell AI Labs) wants to buy Luminar out of bankruptcy. Yes, the same company that’s currently telling a judge he’s dodging subpoenas. If that sounds like a plotline rejected by Suits for being too on-the-nose, you’re not wrong.

At this point, the situation is getting more popcorn-worthy than the moment Trevor Milton’s gravity-powered “innovation” rolled downhill and straight into a Hindenburg report.

That said… Luminar might want to tread lightly. Because when your founder-turned-ghost is also your best shot at a bailout, torching the only lifeboat might not be the play.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News doesn’t hold positions in companies mentioned in the article.