Cassandra Farrington, the CEO and ground-breaking co-founder of Marijuana Business Daily, will be stepping aside from her role as CEO of the leading B2B news source and event producer in the cannabis industry. Farrington will continue to serve as board chair and help guide the long-term vision of MJBizDaily.
Chris Walsh, founding editor and president of MJBizDaily, will assume the title of CEO, focusing on strategic initiatives and taking over day-to-day management of the company.
“Both for me personally and for the business, the time is right to hand over the reins,” Farrington said. “I’ve worked closely with Chris and the leadership team over the past year to ensure that we have the right people in the right seats to take the business forward even more successfully, and to lay out a path for the next phase of my own contributions to the long-term opportunities ahead for MJBizDaily.” The moves will be effective January 1, 2020.
A former VP at Citigroup, Farrington saw in 2011 a nascent industry that lacked reliable, unbiased news coverage and market data and did not have an infrastructure for businesses to make connections. Through her vision and under her leadership, MJBizDaily has grown into an industry leader with nearly 90 employees, an event portfolio spanning North America, Latin America and Europe, and an editorial division that has become the go-to source for news and analysis. The company’s flagship event – MJBizCon in Las Vegas – has grown from a couple hundred attendees at the first gathering in 2012 to an expected 35,000 this December.
Walsh has been a pillar of the business since day one and has helped fuel its growth. As the founding editor, he joined MJBizDaily ahead of the company’s launch to build the audience, content strategy and brand – molding the outlet cannabis professionals turn to every day for industry news, analysis and market research while also shaping the content at its events. He has been overseeing the company’s key revenue divisions since early this year as president.
“I would not be making this move if I did not have complete confidence that the business will be even more successful—strategically, culturally and financially—under Chris Walsh and the existing leadership team,” Farrington said.
Walsh said he is ready to carry the torch and drive the business forward.
“Cassandra is a true pioneer. She was among the first crop of entrepreneurs who took on great risks in the early days of this industry, which operated in a cloud of uncertainty and had a huge stigma attached to it,” Walsh said. “While corporate America was laughing at this little movement, she went all in. I am committed to upholding her vision, scaling the business and ensuring the company she created continues to play a leading role in helping the industry thrive.”
Farrington has been CEO since she co-founded MJBizDaily in 2011.
The company and Farrington have hit numerous milestones and racked up accolades along the way, including:
- Ranking as the fastest-growing trade show in the country in multiple years
- Hitting #302 on the Inc. 500 list in 2016 and appearing on the Inc. 5000 in subsequent years.
- Named twice as one of the fastest-growing women-owned companies.
- Farrington has been recognized as one of the top women entrepreneurs in media
