Forbes 2026 Cannabis 42.0 List
Joanne Wilson
New York City entrepreneur and tech investor Joanne Wilson has backed many startups, from Blue Bottle Coffee to Parachute Home. She has also invested in cannabis companies, including the chic vape brand Beboe. But in 2023, Wilson became a canna-prenuer herself by opening Gotham, a high-end dispensary in Manhattan’s East Village. Today, Gotham has five stores, including one in New York’s Grand Central Station, and has partnered with career training nonprofit Strive to help people who have been arrested for cannabis find jobs.
Vince Ning
Before getting into cannabis, Ning sold his software start-up to Amazon at 23 years old and cofounder Jun Sup Lee worked at Facebook. In 2018, the two childhood best friends and Forbes 30 Under 30 alums founded Nabis in California, becoming the state’s biggest wholesale distributor. Nabis has since expanded to Nevada and New York. With 400 cannabis brands in its network, Nabis delivers $1 billion worth of product a year and has become the country’s largest cannabis wholesale distributor.
Lauren Fontein
With 12 locations across California, The Artist Tree doubles as a dispensary chain and cannabis smoking lounge brand. Cofounded by Lauren Fontein, Aviv Halimi and brothers Avi and Mitchell Kahan, The Artist Tree was one of the first companies to set up shop in cannabis deserts such as Fresno, California. The Artist Tree generated $100 million in revenue in 2025 and is expanding to New York with a dispensary on Long Island and one in Rochester.
Case Mandel
In 2011, Case Mandel and his high school buddy Cliff Sammet were hotboxing a car in the Stanford football stadium parking lot and wondered if they could create a more discreet way to get high. They came up with the idea for Cannadips, a THC oral pouch—like Zyn, but with weed. By 2016, the duo launched the company in California. Today, Cannadips is sold in 5,000 stores across California, Arkansas and Missouri. In 2025, Mandel sold part of his company, which also makes nicotine and caffeine pouches, to tobacco company Swisher.
