​‘I agreed my turn is over’: Canopy’s Bruce Linton stepping down

Canopy Growth Corp. (WEED.TO) Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Bruce Linton is leaving the company he co-founded after a board-level decision.

Mark Zekulin will become the sole CEO of the Smiths Falls, Ont.-based cannabis producer. He will work with the board of directors to find a new leader, and will consider both internal and external candidates, the company said in a release Wednesday.

Rade Kovacevic, who currently leads Canadian operations and recreational strategy at the company, will become Canopy’s president.  

John Bell, a director at Canopy Growth, has been appointed chairman.

“Creating Canopy Growth began with an abandoned chocolate factory and a vision," Linton said in a release. "The board decided today, and I agreed, my turn is over.”

Shares in Canopy fell five per cent on the Toronto Stock Exchange at the start of trading Wednesday. 

Linton is also stepping down as Canopy Rivers’ chairman and director.

"While Canopy will never be the same without Bruce, the team and I look forward to continuing to do what we have done for the past six years: investing in world class people, infrastructure and brands, and always seeking to lead through credibility and vision," Zekulin said in a release.

Canopy, Canada’s largest cannabis producer, was founded in 2013. It received a $5-billion investment from Constellation Brands Inc. last August, but the alcoholic beverage giant recently said it was "not pleased" with Canopy’s recent year-end results.

“This looks like to me it’s got Constellation’s fingerprints all over it,” John Zechner, chairman and founder at J. Zechner Associates, who is short Canopy’s stock, said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg. “Nowhere did it seem like this guy was ready to depart the company.”