Despite a looming deadline with its lender ExWorks, High Times named Shaun Jarvis as interim chief executive officer.
The financially troubled cannabis media company saw the departure of CEO Paul Henderson, who was also the interim chief financial officer and a director of Hightimes Holding Corp. on August 15. In his resignation letter, Henderson said he left his position for health reasons.
Jarvis’s tenure may be short, however. High Times was given until Sept. 30 to come up with the money to satisfy its lender ExWorks, which is also in receivership. There has been no indication that High Times was able to raise the money, so it is expected to be taken over by the ExWorks receiver.
It has been rumored that could happen as soon as midnight on Friday, August 25, but this date has not been confirmed.
High Times has not responded to a request for comment.
CEO Shaun Jarvis
High Times said in a securities filing dated August 23 that Jarvis, a director on the company’s board of directors, will serve as interim CEO until the company’s board of directors makes a permanent appointment. Jarvis was appointed as an independent board member in December 2022.
Jarvis is the co-founder of the Kimball+Jarvis agency, which maintains a particular focus on brand strategy and marketing. Prior to starting Kimball+Jarvis, Jarvis was a commercial photographer and a professor of art for Linfield College, the Rhode Island School of Design, and, most recently, New York University. In these positions, he led both the photography and glass-blowing departments, and at NYU he taught Bias and Heuristics and the Rise of Internet Media.
High Times said it is also in the process of locating a new CFO to fill that vacancy.
Under the employment agreement, Jarvis will receive a salary of $120,000 per year, be entitled to three weeks of vacation, and be allowed to participate in the company’s health benefit plans. In the event of termination, Jarvis will be entitled to receive a severance fee equal to three months’ salary.
The company’s board of directors also appointed Charles Perez to serve as an independent director on the board of directors.
CEO Revolving Door
Jarvis now becomes the company’s fifth CEO in just five years, following:
- Paul Henderson, February 2022-August 2023
- Peter Horvath, May 2020-January 2022
- Stormy Simon, January-May 2020
- Kraig Fox, April-December 2019
Receiver
In October 2022, Stephen Kunkel of VentureSpring LLC was appointed as receiver for ExWorks and could potentially take over the following companies when time finally runs out:
- Hightimes Holding Corp.
- Trans-High Corp.
- High Times Productions Inc.
- Cannabis Business Digital LLC
- High Times Inc.
- New Morning Productions Inc.
- Hemp Times Inc.
- Planet Hemp Inc.
- The Hemp Company of America Inc.
- High Times Cannex Corp.
- High Times Press Inc.
- Culture Pub Inc.
- Wilshire & Veteran Media Corp.
- Chalice Holdings Inc.
- HT Retail Licensing LLC
- Harvest of Merced LLC
- Harvest of Riverside LLC
- HT Staffing California LLC
- HT Retail Licensing LLC
- Hightimes Mountain LLC
- HHI Acquisition Corp.
- Interurban Capital Group LLC
- 530 Collective
- J@G Enterprises Inc.
- Mountain High Recreation Inc
High Times also has acquired additional companies since October 2022, which could make the list even longer. (Full Story)