Pot shop licenses to promote social equity could go to firms tied to co-founder of $3B cannabis giant

Matt Estep, the former managing partner of Green Thumb Industries, runs an investment firm linked to two applicants hoping to win the right to open marijuana dispensaries in Illinois
Chicago Sun-Times (US)
Thursday, September 10, 2020

Matt EstepTwo shadowy companies vying for multiple licenses in the upcoming pot shop lottery share the same west suburban address as an investment firm led by the co-founder of Green Thumb Industries, a River North-based power player in the weed industry. Matt Estep was among a group of investors who started GTI in 2014, the same year medical cannabis was legalized in Illinois. The firm, which has since blossomed into a publicly traded behemoth valued at roughly $3 billion, has operations in multiple states and runs two cultivation centers and six dispensaries in Illinois, including Rise Joliet and Rise Mundelein. (See also: New marijuana shops need ‘true social equity,’ lawmakers say in pitching change to weed law)