Below is a snapshot detailing how the salaries of certain North American cannabis CEOs (shown in alphabetical order by company name) compare with their mainstream counterparts in the United States. The U.S. figures, culled from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, represent the mean annual salaries for CEOs in agriculture and food manufacturing as well as the national estimate for mainstream CEOs.
Base Salaries of Cannabis CEOs
Note: Salaries are for the latest fiscal year.
Acreage Holdings Kevin Murphy $375,000
Aurora Cannabis Terry Booth $380,282 (CA$500,000)
Canopy Growth Bruce Linton $228,169 (CA$300,000)
KushCo Holdings Nick Kovacevich $157,000
MedMen Enterprises Adam Bierman $1.5 million
Cannabis CEO Average
$285,113 (excluding MedMen)
$528,090 (including MedMen)
Source: Company documents
Mean Annual Salaries for CEOs in Select Mainstream Industries
Note: Mean annual wage for CEOs in 2017.
$207,710 Food manufacturing
$198,770 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
$196,050 National estimate for CEO position
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
Marijuana Business Magazine Takeaways
While CEOs in all industries are typically among a company’s top earners, salaries for cannabis CEOs trend higher than those in mainstream industries, including agriculture, according to this spot survey.
Cannabis CEO salaries researched for this graphic represent publicly traded companies in the United States and Canada. Their salaries can range from $157,000 to $1.5 million—a tenfold difference.
On average, cannabis CEOs earn $285,113. That’s a little more than $89,000 more than the national average for mainstream CEOs ($196,050) in the United States, or a 45% difference.
