The saga of Ignite, Instagram celebrity-turned conservative culture warrior Dan Bilzerian’s marijuana-adjacent lifestyle brand, took a few unexpected turns in 2021.
A year removed from 2020—a rollercoaster year in which Ignite posted a $50 million loss, ventured into the legal adult-use cannabis market in Canada, and scored $1 million in free money from the federal government’s Payment Protection Plan—Ignite is now out of the marijuana game, as the company announced last month.
That may come as a surprise, given how the COVID-19 pandemic generated a cash windfall for nearly every other cannabis business (and given how all-in on weed Bilzerian and Ignite behaved in 2019, when “titillating” billboards advertising Ignite-branded cannabis—in the style of a typical Maxim cologne ad—appeared all over Los Angeles).
In this, Dan Bilzerian is a relatable guy. Most legal cannabis businesses say they’re struggling. Less relatable are Bilzerian’s popular following on social media and his global reach. Armed with this, he’s still planning on a billion-dollar exit from Ignite, shares in which were trading for about a dollar on Thursday.
To do this, as he told an interviewer recently, he’s planning a return to the classics. These days, Bilzerian is deep into nicotine vaporizers, and banking on the hope that a big tobacco company will want to slap down ten figures for his inimitable branding.
To Read The Rest Of This Article By Chris Roberts on Forbes
Published: November 19, 2021
Founder & Interim Editor of L.A. Cannabis News
