In 2009, a drug conviction landed Coss Marte a seven-year prison sentence. This year, Marte expects to bring in as much as $12 million selling cannabis legally.Marte, 39, is the founder and CEO of Conbud, one of the first businesses fully-licensed to sell recreational cannabis in Manhattan, and the first in the city's Lower East Side.
"When I was a kid, people would ask me: 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' And I would say: 'I want to be rich,'" says Marte."The first opportunity was through the world of drugs. So I started dealing weed." With a $10,000 grant from Defy, Marte launched Conbody — which now brings in around $1 million in annual revenue, he says — in 2014.
Marte owns 51%, as New York requires the"justice-impacted" license-holder to retain majority ownership.