The momentum stock du jour – Tilray – has captivated trader attentions ever since its IPO at $17 in July, following which it has catapulted in what has been a relentless parabolic fashion. And while most know the general story behind the Canadian pot company, what may come as a surprise is that Tilray CEO Brendan Kennedy’s Privateer Holdings, holds more than 58 million of the total 76 million shares outstanding, a stake now worth more than $12 billion after the stock soared more than 10-fold from its July public offering. And, according to Bloomberg, when Tilray’s unlisted Class 1 shares are included, Privateer’s holdings rise to almost 75 million shares, worth more than $15 billion.
The curiously low float – together with a painful short squeeze – is one of the reasons behind the stock’s tremendous move. As Bloomberg notes, the limited number of shares available for trading is also be adding to the volatility, making it more expensive for skeptical investors to short the stock. That, however, has not daunted the skeptics such as Citron Research, which earlier on Wednesday said it remains short on Tilray, calling the stock’s surge “beyond comprehension” in a Tweet Wednesday.
However, what even fewer know is that one of the biggest winners from Tilray’s explosion, is none other than Peter Thiel who is an investor in Privateer.
Privateer’s partners include Brendan Kennedy, 46, who serves as Tilray’s chief executive officer, Michael Blue, and Christian Groh. Kennedy and Blue are both graduates of Yale School of Management’s MBA program. Kennedy and Groh both formerly worked together at SVB Analytics, a non-bank affiliate of Silicon Valley Bank.
Thiel’s Founders Fund became the first institutional investor in the cannabis industry through Privateer Holdings’ $75 million Series B financing round in December 2014, according to the company’s website. That stake may now be approaching (or has surpassed) $1 billion.
