General Counsel Miyashita supplants Leslie as CEO at marijuana firm Leafly

(This story has been updated to reflect that Leafly no longer is a subsidiary of Privateer Holdings.)

Online marijuana news site, dispensary finder and information resource Leafly appointed a new CEO to replace its current chief, Tim Leslie, who spent less than a year and a half in the position.

Leafly General Counsel Yoko Miyashita will assume the CEO post effective Tuesday, according to a news release, and Leslie will work with her during a “brief transition period.”

Leslie’s time as CEO was marked by multiple rounds of layoffs – 91 in March and 54 in January – and a walk-back of its international operations when the company closed its Germany headquarters in February.

But under Leslie, the Seattle-based company in April launched a delivery service, an expansion to its online ordering service, which is available at roughly 2,200 cannabis shops in the U.S.

Miyashita, who was hired as general counsel at Leafly just last year, will become at least the third CEO in three years for the company.

Former CEO Chris Jeffery was removed by Leafly’s board of directors in September 2018 over “management concerns,” and Leslie was appointed to the post in March 2019, according to his LinkedIn page.

Much of the turmoil has taken place since Leafly separated from former parent company Privateer Holdings in February 2019.