Warning: spoilers ahead for Future State: Superman vs. Imperious Lex #1!
DC Comics' Future State has just revealed the future fate of Lex Luthor, seeing him ruling his own planet in the far reaches of space, hoping to escape the notice and inference of Superman as he did on Earth. However, the Man of Steel's focus and influence begins to stretch further beyond Earth in the future, and he eventually crosses paths with Lex Luthor once more, discovering the dark truth behind the planet he's dubbed "Lexor."
In the future, multiple worlds (including Earth) come together to form the United Planets, a coalition of worlds and the logical next step of Earth's own United Nations, holding forums to deal with the problems facing the universe as a whole, and offering help and support to the worlds that hold membership. It's not the kind of organization Lex tends to value, and yet the issue ends with him scrambling to get membership. That's because while Lexor had been thriving, Superman's discovery as to why puts a quick halt to the prosperity Luthor cultivated.
Essentially, Superman learns that Luthor has created a robot army known as the Reticulants, which travel from world to world, destroying and looting the riches of planets surrounding Lexor, boosting its economy. However, none of the citizens of Lexor were aware of this, as Luthor had buried the truth under his extensive propaganda machine, creating the perspective that Luthor was providing for them as their generous leader and benefactor, never revealing where all the wealth actually came from.
As such, when Superman tries to reveal the truth to Lexor, the people rally against him, leaving him no choice but to destroy all of the planet's factories. While this stops Luthor from hurting other worlds, it ruins Lexor's prosperity and economy. As a result, Luthor is forced to request that his world be accepted into the United Planets so that they might receive aid. While many of the other representatives don't want anything to do with Luthor, Superman manages to convince Lois Lane (who is on the Inner Council) to support Luthor's request, as the people shouldn't be made to suffer for their leader's crimes. After a vote, it's decided that Lexor will be admitted into the United Planets, though the surprise decision is made that Lois will serve as the planet's direct representative, meaning that she'll have to work closely with Luthor in future to get his people the help they need.
Even without Superman, Luthor still manages to be evil, power hungry, and full of greed. Of course, this puts him right back in Superman's sights despite being light-years away. While Luthor might hate asking for help and no doubt blames the Man of Steel for the ruin Lexor has become, he only has himself to blame, considering the fact that he could have had a fresh start in DC's Future State. In any case, it will be really interesting to see how Lex Luthor handles having to deal with Superman and Lois Lane once more as this series continues from DC Comics.