From the day it landed on the stock market, MedMen (MMEN.C) was a company that drew derision and ire based almost entirely on the decision of its founders to lather themselves in hefty bonuses, hoard most of the voting shares, offer themselves enriching golden parachutes, and put themselves above the shareholders and the long term success of the business.
Today, with the company flailing and bleeding money, it was announced Adam Bierman, MedMen’s CEO, has agreed to resign, shortly before his contract expires.
The board of directors of the company is in the process of forming a committee of directors that will be responsible for identifying and appointing a new chief executive officer. The committee expects to consider internal and external candidates and may engage a national search firm to aid in its efforts. In the interim, the board of directors has named the company’s chief operating officer and chief technology officer, Ryan Lissack, as interim chief executive officer. Mr. Bierman has agreed to continue to serve on the company’s board of directors, including as part of the board to be elected at the company’s upcoming shareholder meeting.
That’s all well and good – and long overdue – but much of the announcement of Bierman’s demise – no surprise – discusses how the company will try to disentangle itself from the Bierman web of bonuses that will continue to yeet money away from the enterprise.
The company has agreed to compensate Mr. Bierman in connection with his departure and the surrender of all the supervoting shares by himself and Mr. Modlin. A special committee of independent directors will be formed after the company’s next annual meeting of shareholders, currently scheduled for Feb. 21, 2020. This special committee will have the mandate to obtain a third party valuation of the supervoting shares and to consider if Mr. Bierman should receive additional compensation to that already received for his service to the company in 2019.
Why would Bierman step down now, just a few months before the end of his contract?
My guess is the timing of this:
The company plans to release its financial results for the second quarter fiscal 2020 ended Dec. 28, 2019, after market close on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020.
Book it: Those results are going to be brutal, and having already ditched the founders will be the company’s defense that it’s ‘already taken steps’ to fix things.
MedMen stock rose 9% today on the back of the news of the CEO’s departure, which tells you what the market thought of the guy.
We agree, though we’d never buy MMEN stock to show it. In a sector rife with terrible CEOs that have wasted company treasury and goodwill, that have positioned companies in ways that can’t possibly make money in the long term, who have saddled themselves with outrageous debt and blown copious quantities of cash out the door with dumb marketing schemes, none come close to Bierman in terms of self enrichment, entitlement, and outward facing douchery.
Some highlights:
- His insane decision to threaten to sue us for half a billion dollars for pointing out his bonus program as his company went live
- His lampooning on an episode of South Park that was entirely devoted to mocking Bierman and his bro team as pig fuckers
- HisThe MedMen yoga mat PR push
- The court cases alleging Bierman’s homophobia and sexism in the workplace
- The devastating profile in Rolling Stone, to having Spike Jonze do a promo clip comparing MedMen to George Washington
- The selling of company real estate to a company he partly owned
- His complaining of his privacy being violated when we mentioned he’d bought a multi million dollar Hollywood mansion, despite having announced it himself in the LA Times
- And losses stacked on losses stacked on losses…
Adam Bierman was not the CEO the cannabis sector needed.
He was the CEO the cannabis sector deserved.
Good riddance, shit bag. We were right about you all along.
— Chris Parry
