Famed libertarian investor Peter Thiel has announced his plans to invest in dat chronic, specifically the new Bob Marley brand of marijuana that’s set to hit global markets.
Thiel’s Founders Fund, a $2 billion venture capital firm, will participate in a multi million dollar fundraising effort by Privateer Holdings, the owner of the Bob Marley brand. Privateer is seeking $75 million to launch branded marijuana and products in cooperation with the family of the late reggae singer.
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Geoff Lewis, a Founding Fund partner said in a statement that he believes the global legalization of marijuana is an inevitability. “Privateer Holdings has emerged as the market leader in legal cannabis, which we believe will become a massive industry within the next decade,” he said to the LA Times.
“We’ve been evaluating the cannabis industry for several years and we haven’t seen another company that comes close to Privateer Holdings in terms of strategy, professionalism, talent, expertise, and potential for growth.”
Privateers Holdings CEO Brendan Kennedy wants Marley Natural to become the “Marlboro of marijuana.” “Raising money is always difficult, but raising money in this particular industry is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Kennedy said to CBS News.
“We will see it transition, transform from being a market that’s based on prohibition and an illicit market to being a fully open, fully transparent market. And that’s the opportunity,” Kennedy continued.
But not everyone is as high on the potential marketplace as Kennedy. UCLA professor Mark Klieman said to CBS that “The surest way of doubling your money investing in cannabis stocks is to fold it back over and put it in your pocket.”
“A lot of people are crowding into the marijuana industry because they think they are going to be able to sell a legal good at illegal prices,” Klieman said. “Competition’s not going to allow that. Legal cannabis is going to be dirt cheap, and I think a lot of people are going to lose their shirts trying to sell it.”
In the USA, 27 states and the District of Columbia have legalized some form of marijuana, whether medical or recreational. Some experts predict that the marijuana market could become a $150 billion to $200 billion market globally.
