Ex-Chicago Tribune publisher joins Illinois cannabis firm

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A former publisher of the Chicago Tribune joined Illinois-based cannabis company Revolution Enterprises, part of a growing parade of C-suite officers from major companies plunging into the marijuana industry.

Revolution, a multistate cannabis company based in suburban Chicago, announced Wednesday it had tapped Tony Hunter, who spent 20 years with the Chicago Tribune, to help grow the company.

Hunter left the Chicago Tribune in 2016 after “a tumultuous period, that included a lengthy bankruptcy, several owners and a corporate split with the company’s former broadcast operations,” Crain’s Chicago Business reported at the time of Hunter’s departure.

The cannabis industry has in the past year or so been a magnet for C-suite executives from alcohol, tobacco and other consumer packaged goods sectors as well as pharmaceuticals, apparel and other industries.

In addition to Hunter, other executives from the media sector who have entered the cannabis space include High Times CEO Kraig Fox, who held a leadership post at LiveNation, and Keith Dawkins, a former Viacom executive who oversaw the Nickelodeon TV network and is now on the board of Calyx Peak, a multistate cannabis company in Los Angeles.