EllisonLiggett partner exits firm to work in cannabis industry

Photo courtesy LinkedIn

Larry Ellison

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The co-founder of EllisonLiggett Litigation Consultants exited the firm this month to focus in earnest on a new venture for a Vancouver, Canada-based cannabis technology and investment firm.

Larry Ellison said he sold his half of EllisonLiggett on Oct. 1 to business partner Brooke Liggett for undisclosed terms. The two former KPM CPAs PC accountants started the business in August 2013, providing litigation support and business valuations, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

“I always wanted to be the individual who quit when he was still capable of doing the job and not being one of those individuals who works past their true stopping point,” Ellison, who’s 72, said of his primary career in the accounting and litigation world. “Brooke will do a great job. She was doing the majority of the testifying before I left. She’s extremely capable and has a great reputation.”

Ellison’s next career move is as chief financial officer for Agrios Global Holdings Ltd.’s U.S. operations. He established a Springfield office for the company in April at shared space in the 315 South Ave. Rogers and Baldwin building owned by downtown developer Scott Tillman. Ellison said he started working full-time for Agrios on May 1, prior to making the official transition at EllisonLiggett.

Ellison said Agrios, which has been approved for an initial public offering, makes cannabis investments and operates cultivation facilities. Earlier this year, Ellison sold his Shelton, Washington-based business BDB Finance and Leasing, which operates a cannabis cultivation plant and is now known as Timberland Bay. He was involved in that venture for three years.

“It was a good fit, and it’s an industry that I feel very passionately about,” Ellison said of his new position. “I feel very passionately about it coming to Missouri, and that was part of it.”

Ellison said he’s a member of the state executive board for St. Louis-based nonprofit New Approach Missouri, the organizer of Amendment 2 on the Nov. 6 ballot. The initiative is one of three bills designed to legalize medical marijuana in Missouri.

“The real purpose is to help people with their quality of life,” he said. “It will not cure cancer. It will not cure other diseases, but it sure lets people enjoy a much better quality of life.”