Curaleaf founder Boris Jordan to take over as CEO of largest U.S. cannabis company

By Steve Gelsi

Matt Darin to exit as chief executive after two years in the role

Curaleaf Holdings Inc. said its co-founder and executive chair Boris Jordan will add the role of chief executive of the country's largest legal-cannabis business after Matt Darin steps down after two years in the job.

Curaleaf (CURLF) said Darin will step down as chief executive on Aug. 16 to retire and spend more time with his family. He will remain as an adviser to the company until the end of the year, according to a statement late Wednesday.

Jordan has been executive chair of Curaleaf since 2015, a year after he formed the company as its main investor under its previous name, Palliatech.

At last check, Curaleaf had 5,000 employees and was running 147 cannabis dispensaries in 17 U.S. states, along with overseas operations. It's the largest cannabis company in the U.S. by annual revenue and market capitalization, which is about $2.4 billion.

Darin moved over to Curaleaf in 2020 as part of its acquisition of Grassroots and became chief executive in 2022.

Prior to that, Curaleaf vice chair and co-founder Joseph Lusardi served as chief executive from 2016 to 2021.

Separately, Curaleaf said its second-quarter loss narrowed to $48.9 million, or 6 cents a share, from a loss of $71.24 million, or 10 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.

Curaleaf matched the FactSet consensus estimate for a loss of 6 cents a share.

Revenue rose 2% to $342 million, below the analyst estimate of $344.9 million.

Curaleaf's stock was up 0.4% in early trading on Thursday.

The stock is down 21.2% so far in 2024, compared with a 3% drop by the AdvisorShares Pure U.S. Cannabis exchange-traded fund MSOS.

Also read: Cannabis stocks climb as rescheduling comment period draws nearly 43,000 submissions

-Steve Gelsi

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08-08-24 1037ET

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