Cannabis Firms With Highest-Paid Executives See Underperforming Stocks

Cannabis companies with the highest-paid executives saw their stock underperform over the last year, according to a survey by Bedford Consulting Group outlined by Bloomberg.

The report analyzed the compensation of 437 executives and 449 board members at 96 cannabis companies and found that Canadian companies Tilray Inc. Acreage Holdings Inc., and Sunniva Inc. had the highest-paid executives in the industry.

Tilray CEO Brandon Kennedy was the highest-paid executive, according to the report, with total compensation of $27.96 million, 97 percent of which was stock shares and options. Acreage’s Brian Mulroney – who served as Prime Minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993 – was the highest-paid director, earning an all equity-based $10.23 million, the report says.

Sunniva employed the highest-paid non-executive board chair or lead director, as Todd Patrick – who left the firm last January – received $1.32 million, 95 percent in options.

Over the last 12 months, each of those companies underperformed the BI Global Cannabis Competitive Peers index, and Sunniva has fallen 97 percent.

Among cannabis companies, 35 percent experienced CEO turnover last year and another 32 percent had CFO turnover.

According to the survey, just 11 percent of cannabis industry board members were women and only 8 percent of the 437 senior executives were female.

The majority of cannabis companies analyzed – 58 percent – lacked an independent board leader.

The data was collected in October when the average cannabis share price was about a third higher than it is today.