Weed Empire

How I Battled Gangsters, Investment Banks, and the Department of Justice to Create the Cannabis Industry in America

By: Adam Bierman, Herb Wesson - foreword

From the cofounder of MedMen, this is the true, unfiltered inside tale of the mainstreaming of an outlaw industry: the growers, dealers, lobbyists, tycoons, and titans of industry that created corporate cannabis.

Adam Bierman wasn’t planning on selling weed—or developing a network of cannabis stores, or safeguarding his money in shoeboxes, or facing off with gangbangers in dark corners of parking lots, or taking on the public markets and justice system itself to bring the world America’s first public cannabis unicorn. But, of course, not everything goes according to plan.

Weed Empire is an inside look at the story behind MedMen, America’s first cannabis unicorn and the world’s first globally recognized cannabis brand. It’s the underdog story of how a kid from the suburbs entered the cannabis scene and later reimagined weed for the mainstream, jumping at an opportunity to shift the conversation about legalizing marijuana. And it’s the tale of how a one-room studio dispensary eventually turned into a public company valued at over $2 billion—led by a CEO with no college degree, and with politicians, entertainment moguls, and Wall Street heavyweights on his team.

An unconventional but intensely authentic memoir, Weed Empire is more than just an account of MedMen’s colorful history—it’s also a cautionary tale of the high cost of ambition. Adam refuses to pull any punches in his tell-all story, documenting MedMen’s decade-long rise as well as all the extraordinary behind-the-scenes moments, the slog of passing cannabis legislation, and the exhausting battle to start a public company, bring a dream to the world, and hold a family—and himself—together through the madness.

©2025 by Adam Bierman. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.