Bruce Linton

Bruce Linton is the Canadian entrepreneur who brought legal cannabis to the world's stock markets. Founder of Canopy Growth Corporation, In less than six years, he transformed a start-up based in a former chocolate factory into the world's largest listed cannabis company, only to be ousted as brutally as he had built it.

From tech to cannabis: an early view

Before cannabis, Bruce Linton had built his career in Ottawa-based technology (ComputerLand, WebHancer, CrossKeys Systems), developing businesses in sectors framed by changes in public policy. This expertise in regulated markets naturally led him to medical cannabis when Canada began to liberalize access.

In 2013, he co-founded Tweed Marijuana Incorporated in Smiths Falls, Ontario, in a former Hershey factory that had been bought out and converted into a medical cannabis production site. The symbolism was powerful: where chocolate had been made, legal cannabis would now be produced on a large scale.

Canopy Growth: the first cannabis unicorn

Tweed merges with other entities to become Canopy Growth Corporation. In July 2016, Canopy becomes the first cannabis company in North America to be listed on a major stock exchange, the TSX in Toronto. In March 2017, it joins the S&P/TSX Composite Index.

Linton's strategy is clear: occupy the ground before recreational legalization, raise massive amounts of capital, acquire competitors and go international. He raises more than C$6 billion, including a historic $5 billion investment from Constellation Brands, the American alcoholic beverage giant, which takes a 38% stake in 2018. This is the largest-ever investment in a cannabis company.

Canadian legalization and the fall

When Canada legalized recreational cannabis in October 2018, Canopy Growth was in pole position. But the reality of the market is harsher than anticipated: sales stagnate, losses mount, and Constellation Brands, the de facto majority shareholder, loses patience. In July 2019, the Board of Directors meets without Linton, who was Chairman. He understands what that means.

«The board has decided, and I agree: my turn is over,» he declares publicly. Later the same day, he told CNBC: «I think ‘resignation’ is the wrong word. I've been fired.»

After Canopy: the serial investor

Far from disappearing, Linton bounced back immediately. He invested in American cannabis, therapeutic psychedelics and various start-ups. He co-founded Collective Growth Corporation, a NASDAQ-listed SPAC, took board positions at Mind Medicine, specializing in psilocybin therapies, and remains an influential voice in the North American legal cannabis industry.

His time at Canopy remains a benchmark: he proved that a cannabis company could access global capital markets, attract Fortune 500 investors and build an international brand. The Linton method - raise fast, acquire large, internationalize before the competition - has been copied by a whole generation of legal cannabis entrepreneurs.