Beau Wrigley making a huge bet on medical marijuana

A
flowering marijuana plant is pictured at the Canopy Growth
Corporation facility in Smiths Falls, Ontario, Canada, January 4,
2018.
REUTERS/Chris
Wattie

• William Wrigley Jr. II led a $65 million round into
  Surterra, a Florida medical marijuana
  company, through his private investment firm.
• He’s also taking a seat on Surterra’s board.
• Wrigley formerly ran the eponymous chewing gum company,
  orchestrating its sale to Mars Inc. 

William Wrigley Jr. II, the heir to the Wrigley chewing gum
fortune, is jumping into the marijuana business.

Wrigley led a $65 million equity financing into Surterra Wellness,
a Florida-based medical marijuana company, through
his personal investment firm.

Wrigley will also become the chair of Surterra’s board. The
company plans to use the funds to expand into new state markets —
and make a push into the competitive recreational market.

Known as Beau, Wrigley left the eponymous chewing gum
company after orchestrating the company’s sale to Mars
Inc.

“When I understood the massive benefits, it really changed
my mind about the [marijuana] industry,” Wrigley told
Bloomberg in a Monday interview. “You don’t see too many
opportunities to have that kind of an impact in an industry that
is being created from scratch.”

Recreational marijuana is legal
in nine states, and medical marijuana is legal in another 30,
though the federal government still considers it to be an
illegal, Schedule I substance. Oklahoma voted to
allow medicinal marijuana in June.