Cannabis Industry's New Mavericks: Two Companies Introduce Fresh Leadership

22nd Century Group, Inc. XXII has named Lawrence (Larry) Firestone as the company’s chairman and CEO.

The Buffalo-based company announced the news on Wednesday shortly after revealing that it will sell "substantially all" of its GVB Biopharma hemp/cannabis operations to Specialty Acquisition Corporation in a $2.25 million deal. Specialty Acquisition, based in Nevada, is an entity affiliated with current GVB employees.

Firestone brings over four decades of enterprise, operations, and financial management experience in both public and private companies, including tenures as CEO, CFO and COO across multiple industry sectors.

Most recently, Firestone served as CFO of Oakland Manager, a privately-held purveyor of cannabis with both retail and wholesale market penetration, and as chairman of FirePower Technology, a privately held manufacturer of ATX power supplies for the IT and instrumentation markets.

He also served as CEO of Eastside Distilling, Inc. EAST and Qualstar Corporation QBAK, CFO of Advanced Energy Industries AEIS and Applied Films Corporation AFCO.

Firestone praised the company’s team, which he was appointed to lead.

"The team at 22nd Century has created one of the industry's most innovative integrated tobacco platforms, from plant genetics to fully commercialized disruptive consumer products,” he said. “I am confident we can build upon the success the Company has had to date while developing strategies that can enhance value for shareholders.”

In the meantime, 22nd Century recently reported an 8.2% year-over-year drop in net revenue to $17.8 million in the third quarter and an operating loss of $71.5 million for the same period, compared to $15.3 million in the corresponding quarter of 2022.

Blinc Group Promotes COO Pete Sahani To CEO

Cannabis vape producer The Blinc Group promoted Pete Sahani, the company’s COO since 2022, to CEO.

Arnaud Dumas de Rauly, co-founder and current CEO, will be stepping down to embark on a new strategic direction within the company as chief experience and science officer and will remain on the board. This transition will become effective as of Friday, Dec. 1, 2023.

“Pete has been a pivotal figure in our leadership team, playing a significant role in not only steering us to positive EBITDA and Net Income but also in the introduction of innovative services like Scale Now Pay Later (SNPL) and Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI),” Dumas de Rauly said. “With his exceptional skill in operational management and strategic planning, I am confident that Pete is the ideal leader to propel Blinc into a future marked by sustained profitability and expanded service offerings.”

XXII Price Action

22nd Century Group’s shares traded 10.6977% higher at $0.2380 per share at the time of writing on Wednesday morning.

See also: The Blinc Group Acquires IP Portfolio With Advanced Vaping Solutions

•  47.10% with $GTBIF
•  40.23% with $TCNNF
•  21.50% with $VFF

Photo: Courtesy of Iryna Rahalskaya on Shutterstock