Brendan Kennedy was an early mover in the market as the world started to legalise cannabis. It seemed like a crazy and risky decision a decade ago. Now, he's sitting on a fortune, Jane Lewis reports. When Brendan Kennedy gave up his job in finance to gamble on the commercial potential of legal cannabis, everyone thought he was crazy. Nine years on, he has become "a poster child of the green rush", says The Times. He presides over Tilray, a self-described "global leader in cannabis research, cultivation, processing and distribution", which has ridden "an extraordinary global surge towards legalisation".

Soft-spoken, clean-cut and often donning a crisp shirt, tie and suit, Brendan Kennedy doesn’t exactly scream rebel. But the 43-year-old co-founder and CEO of Privateer Holdings could be considered somewhat of a rule-breaker, at least inside his company. When Kennedy and his partners Christian Groh and Michael Blue founded Privateer in 2010, they mapped out a crystal clear strategy: build well-known brands that take the marijuana industry out of the counter-culture margins and bring it into the mainstream.

Tilray Inc. will be profitable in Canada in the “next quarter or two” and in Europe in the next two to three quarters, according to Chief Executive Officer Brendan Kennedy. The pot producer’s stock jumped as much as 8.9 per cent following Kennedy’s comments... click to watch video

Tilray Inc. is expanding its European leadership team and setting up a hub in Portugal, deepening its planned international reach. Tilray currently employs more than 130 at the Portuguese facility and expects to double that by the end of this year. The announcement confirms Chief Executive Brendan Kennedy’s stated plans to channel investments into Europe.