The Owner Of Sunburn Cannabis Will Make A $50 Million Dollar Profit This Year

Forbes

Brady Cobb founded Sunburn Cannabis as a tribute to his dad, a legendary “saltwater cowboy” who once operated a $300 million ring smuggling Colombian weed into Florida. Bill Cobb was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his crimes. His son will sell $50 million of pot this year—all legally.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2024/06/16/brady-cobb-interview-sunburn-cannabis-bill-cobb-operation-sunburn/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, honor thy father, the saga of a drug smuggler's son.

00:07Clyde Walton Cobb might not have been the best father figure, but he was a hell of a

00:11pot smuggler.

00:13Between 1977 and 1981, Cobb, who used the Suntan oil business as a front, along with

00:20a group of so-called, quote, saltwater cowboys, generated $300 million by smuggling marijuana

00:27from Cartagena, Colombia, to the rivers and swamps of the Florida Panhandle, with a vast

00:32network of airplanes and shrimp boats.

00:35At the height of his prolific drug smuggling career, Cobb, whom everyone called Bill, was

00:41responsible for bringing $14 million worth of weed into the United States every 10 days.

00:47During the government's three-and-a-half-year investigation, dubbed Operation Sunburn, the

00:52authorities seized more than 50 tons of marijuana Cobb and his crew smuggled into the U.S.

00:58The federal government estimated that the crew successfully brought in more than 100

01:02tons of weed in just a few years.

01:05Some 40 years later, long after Cobb passed away from cancer, his son, Brady Cobb, launched

01:11his own cannabis company, naming it Sunburn Cannabis, in honor of his father.

01:17The biggest difference is that the younger Cobb is doing it legally.

01:22Brady Cobb, who's 43 years old, says, quote,

01:25I went the licensed route because I've already had one member of my family go to prison.

01:30Now I'm just an unconvicted felon.

01:34Inside Sunburn Cannabis's headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Cobb shows off a

01:38photo of his father, wearing shorts and a Rolex, while smiling next to an 800-pound

01:43swordfish.

01:45A giant American flag covers one wall, a few hot pink Make America Great Again hats speckle

01:50a desk, and two weapons are in reach, a bazooka and a super soaker.

01:56Sunburn is a so-called good-old-boy cannabis brand, not the woke, politically correct corporate

02:01kind preaching about how marijuana is, quote, nature's medicine.

02:05Sunburn's ethos is far more personal.

02:08Only in America could the son of a drug smuggler exceed his father's wildest dreams.

02:14Leaning on the rocket launcher, Cobb says, quote,

02:17Sunburn is all about back when you did not have to wear seatbelts, when dudes were dudes,

02:21chicks were chicks, and everyone's having fun.

02:24If there's one thing we stand for, it is freedom.

02:28And that freedom comes with a price, for its customers.

02:31Sunburn, which is on track to generate just over $50 million in revenue this year from

02:36its 13 dispensaries across Florida, competes in one of the largest cannabis markets in

02:41the U.S.

02:42The Sunshine State, which only has a medical marijuana program, sold $2 billion worth of

02:47cannabis last year, making it the country's biggest medical market.

02:52A ballot measure to legalize recreational cannabis sales in Florida is headed to the

02:55polls this November.

02:57And if it passes, the state's weed market is expected to swell to $5 billion, according

03:02to marijuana sales data firm Headset.

03:05While many cannabis companies are spending money to expand ahead of the vote, Sunburn

03:09is cutting costs.

03:11The company reduced the salaries of 86 employees, around 5% for low-level staff and up to 35%

03:17for executives, with the goal to be cash flow positive by the third quarter of the year.

03:23Brady Cobb was born in 1981, the same year his father and 12 others were indicted on

03:29dozens of charges related to trafficking marijuana.

03:32Bill was looking at a life sentence, according to a former federal prosecutor.

03:36But after turning state's witness, he got a better deal.

03:40If he ratted out his associates and copped to a charge of violating the RICO Act, he

03:44would only get 20 years.

03:46He went to prison in 1982.

03:48Brady grew up not seeing his dad much.

03:52Almost 20 years later, Bill would regale his son with outrageous tales of his smuggling

03:56career.

03:57But Bill would always warn Brady about not following in his flip-flops.

04:02Most criminals, of course, want their kids to become a doctor or lawyer, and that's exactly

04:06what Brady did.

04:08After graduating from law school at Barry University in Orlando in 2006, he went to

04:12work for the former Florida State Senator Jim Scott at his law firm, Trip Scott, where

04:17Brady says he, quote, carried briefcases and shut up and listened.

04:21While Cobb had a great job and eventually made partner, he watched in the 2010s as marijuana

04:26legalization slowly started to expand from California, and knew his next step would be

04:31in the licensed cannabis economy.

04:34Speaking while eating a burger and drinking a Coors Light, he says, quote,

04:38When I became a lawyer, part of me did it so I could do what Bill did legally.

04:44In 2016, Florida legalized medical marijuana, and Cobb won it in.

04:51For full coverage, and to read the full story, check out Will Yakowitz's piece on Forbes.com.

04:58This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

05:00Thanks for tuning in.

05:04♪♪♪

Category

Transcript

Recommended