How a California pot company went from $575 million in cash to a 'debt death spiral'
ay-Z’s cannabis brand looked timeless as soon as it launched in 2020. The billionaire rapper, legal name Shawn Carter, rolled out his Monogram line of luxury joints and cannabis flower with a photo shoot at the famous Frank Sinatra house in Palm Springs. Models elegantly smoked joints in front of mid-century pool furniture, as if the brand had been around for decades. Glowing profiles in GQ, Vogue and Vanity Fair soon followed.
Four years later, it looks like this splashy celebrity cannabis brand has already disappeared.
Monogram’s website lists nine retailers where it says its products are for sale — eight in California and one in Arizona — but none include the brand’s products on their online menus. The parent company behind Monogram, confusingly called The Parent Company, hasn’t fared any better. The conglomerate originally hit California’s market with $575 million in cash and plans to take over the entire industry, but after burning through half a billion dollars, it has merged into another company, which itself appears to be in financial trouble.
This downfall did not surprise Seth Yakatan, a cannabis investor and adviser to many California pot companies. He told SFGATE that The Parent Company was spending “mind-boggling” amounts of money during its brief time and that Jay-Z’s pricey Monogram products failed to live up to the hype.
https://www.sfgate.com/can... #jayz
ay-Z’s cannabis brand looked timeless as soon as it launched in 2020. The billionaire rapper, legal name Shawn Carter, rolled out his Monogram line of luxury joints and cannabis flower with a photo shoot at the famous Frank Sinatra house in Palm Springs. Models elegantly smoked joints in front of mid-century pool furniture, as if the brand had been around for decades. Glowing profiles in GQ, Vogue and Vanity Fair soon followed.
Four years later, it looks like this splashy celebrity cannabis brand has already disappeared.
Monogram’s website lists nine retailers where it says its products are for sale — eight in California and one in Arizona — but none include the brand’s products on their online menus. The parent company behind Monogram, confusingly called The Parent Company, hasn’t fared any better. The conglomerate originally hit California’s market with $575 million in cash and plans to take over the entire industry, but after burning through half a billion dollars, it has merged into another company, which itself appears to be in financial trouble.
This downfall did not surprise Seth Yakatan, a cannabis investor and adviser to many California pot companies. He told SFGATE that The Parent Company was spending “mind-boggling” amounts of money during its brief time and that Jay-Z’s pricey Monogram products failed to live up to the hype.
https://www.sfgate.com/can... #jayz
