Mike Tyson On Taking A Bite Out Of The Cannabis Industry | Forbes - video Dailymotion

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Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight champion and cannabis mogul (with ear-shaped gummies) tells Forbes how pot changed his life—and the secret weapon that will help him smoke Jake Paul in their fight.  While Iron Mike was prone to being his own hype man as a fighter, he’s not far off with his claims about his budding cannabis company. Tyson 2.0 sells marijuana products—including flower, vapes and edibles made in the shape of Evander Holyfield’s ear, which Tyson notoriously bit during a 1997 match—in 20 states across the U.S., and in Amsterdam, Barcelona and Thailand. The company, through a partnership with PHCANN International in Macedonia, is in the process of launching in Germany’s newly legalized adult-use market as well as the U.K.’s highly restrictive medical marijuana industry.  Tyson 2.0 works off a licensing model, cutting deals with franchisees who grow, manufacture, and sell his branded cannabis products. In 2023, the brand generated $150 million in revenue, Forbes estimates, with about 30% coming from cannabis sales and the rest from accessories, CBD, nicotine vaporizers and other products.  Tyson 2.0’s flower is branded with names drawn from his legendary boxing career, including Dynamite Cookies (his first nickname was Kid Dynamite) and Knockout OG (Tyson won 44 of his 50 boxing career wins by KO). But the company’s flagship product Mike Bites—the edible in the shape of Holyfield’s half-bitten ear—was developed by Tyson’s wife, Kiki.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2024/04/26/mike-tyson-on-becoming-a-heavy-hitter-in-weed/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

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00:00 My wife, my wife's a nut, but she's brilliant.

00:03 And she said, "Why don't you use the ear?"

00:05 And I said, "Get out of here."

00:06 Because I was a little bitter with the ear,

00:08 because the ear got me in trouble,

00:09 and that allowed my feelings to get involved.

00:12 And you know what is funny?

00:13 When I bit Holderfield's ear,

00:14 they took $3 million from me.

00:17 I made more than that taking pictures biting people's ears.

00:20 Can you believe I was a champ of the world,

00:22 and now I'm the champion cat in the sky?

00:23 [music]

00:33 Tyson 2.0, New York, born in Brownsville.

00:36 What does it mean to you,

00:38 launching in New York, in your home state?

00:40 Hey, listen, anybody from Brownsville

00:43 that's able to launch anything is coming up.

00:47 I'm very grateful to be able to do that.

00:49 I'm very proud of myself.

00:50 I'm proud of being from Brownsville

00:51 and being the person that launched this company.

00:55 I'm very grateful and proud of myself on that.

00:58 And, you know, obviously, launching in New York on--

01:02 well, I guess, you know, being here today on 4/20.

01:05 -What's the significance? -Yeah, this is our national holiday.

01:06 This is a national holiday for Stoners.

01:09 Do you remember your first time blazing?

01:11 -Like, could you bring me through? -Yes, yes.

01:12 I'm a young baby.

01:13 I'm crying, being silly,

01:14 and my mother's friend left me to milk it.

01:16 -Yeah, oh, wow. -Yeah.

01:17 How old?

01:18 I'm probably eight years old.

01:20 I'm a young baby.

01:21 I'm just crying, looking for attention.

01:22 She said, "Hey, I'll give him something."

01:24 My mother was a sex worker, so there was a lot of stuff

01:27 going on in the house, and she let me smoke it,

01:29 and I never stopped.

01:30 Could you tell me the mission of Tyson 2.0?

01:33 What are you guys trying to do?

01:35 It's to try to educate everyone that pot is not what it seemed

01:39 to be in 1936, and they move--

01:41 -What was that movie? -"Reefer Madness."

01:43 "Reefer Madness," yeah.

01:45 It is convinced that he is hopelessly and incurably insane,

01:48 a condition caused by the drug marijuana

01:50 to which he was addicted.

01:52 We've all seen dozens of celebrity brands launch.

01:54 I mean, Seth Rogen, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z.

01:56 I mean, name 'em, Lil Wayne.

01:59 Lots of them don't exist anymore.

02:00 They're not on the shelf.

02:01 I attribute that to, one, an incredible team

02:03 that we have at Tyson 2.0,

02:05 in addition to the authenticity of the talent, right?

02:07 Mike uses it daily for his own mental health.

02:10 Ric Flair, great example.

02:12 Ric used Xanax for 30-plus years to sleep.

02:14 He's now finally clean off Xanax,

02:17 just using cannabis to go to sleep.

02:19 If it wasn't for Mike introducing him to cannabis,

02:21 he wouldn't be there today.

02:23 Did you go out and, like, "I want Mike Tyson.

02:26 "I want Ric Flair to do cannabis companies,"

02:28 or did they approach you?

02:29 Prior to Tyson 2.0,

02:31 I worked on the private equity side,

02:33 investing in dozens and dozens of cannabis brands,

02:36 just kind of getting my feet wet, understanding the industry,

02:39 before I was approached by the Tysons

02:41 and a couple of their largest shareholders,

02:44 and that's where we co-founded and created Tyson 2.0.

02:47 Ric Flair came along second.

02:49 Ben just developed an incredible relationship with Mike.

02:52 I mean, it's an authentic friendship.

02:54 The two of them together is priceless.

02:56 I mean, such a good time.

02:57 And Future was one of the last ones,

02:59 just trying to tap into different demographics, different areas.

03:01 We continue to focus on bringing in new talent,

03:03 maybe a handful more in the pipeline,

03:05 so excited about those.

03:06 And so how many states are you guys selling cannabis products in?

03:10 Active today in 20-plus states.

03:12 Actually, we have Tyson 2.0 products in over 19 countries,

03:15 including Grindr's, Rolling Paper's.

03:17 On the cannabis front, we did just announce and expand with Ph Pharma.

03:21 Germany, UK, Australia,

03:24 and a couple more that we're working on the pipeline,

03:26 cultivating out of Macedonia.

03:27 Launching in New York this month,

03:29 what does that mean to the company?

03:31 This is huge. It hits home for us.

03:33 I mean, coming home for Mike Tyson is iconic for us as a brand,

03:36 as a company, as a whole.

03:38 We just announced the launch of Mike Bites,

03:40 and I'm real excited to get started on 420.

03:42 And, you know, the form factor, I love.

03:45 I think it's, you know, really smart.

03:47 Could you talk about the kind of creation of it

03:49 and, like, the decision to be like, "This is what we're going to do"?

03:52 Well, Mike, his wife, the family developed, had the idea.

03:56 I thought it was genius when we were sitting in their kitchen,

03:58 and Mike and her brought it up, Mike and Kiki.

04:01 We went right to work with it, creating a mold,

04:04 launched it first in California,

04:05 and now we've rolled it out across almost all of our markets.

04:08 We've recently announced the Night Bites,

04:10 so similar to Mike Bites, but it's done with CBN and THC,

04:13 so helping you with sleep.

04:15 They actually knock you out, which is cool.

04:17 Being a fighter, being an athlete,

04:22 what's, like, your relationship with cannabis?

04:24 Like, where does that sit in your life as a fighter?

04:27 I think every fighter, every athlete should use it.

04:29 You know, there was fighter Ricky Williams, he gave up--

04:32 he gave up his professional career for cannabis.

04:34 I'm the Speaker of the House, gave up his job.

04:36 He gave up his career for cannabis, all right?

04:39 So these two guys are not idiots, they gave up a lot.

04:42 So what did they give up all that for?

04:44 For this, that seems so insignificant.

04:46 That seems so insignificant for being Speaker of the House, right?

04:49 Insignificant to be the best running back in the world.

04:52 I gave that up, fuck that.

04:53 I know you have a fight coming up,

04:56 but you haven't been in the ring for a while.

04:58 Last time was 15 years, this is 3 years, so it's not that bad.

05:02 Pretty much, 'cause right now I'm living my life disciplined now.

05:05 And so I'm at the fight discipline now.

05:07 Probably 6 weeks I haven't gotten high, I had sex.

05:09 Can you bring me through, like, your mindset?

05:11 Like, why putting aside cannabis for the fight specifically?

05:15 Like, what is in that decision?

05:17 It's just discipline.

05:19 You know, discipline in doing what you love to do,

05:22 what you love to do, doing what you hate to do,

05:24 but doing it like you love it.

05:25 You know, I hate not being able to smoke,

05:27 I'm doing it like I love it.

05:28 I hate not to be able to sleep with my wife,

05:30 I'm doing it like I love it.

05:31 Right, yeah.

05:32 And is there something, like, that cannabis does

05:36 that you don't want?

05:37 No, it has nothing to do with it.

05:39 Because I want it, I will do it.

05:41 But you know, that doesn't mean I'm not gonna use my toad medicine.

05:44 Right, yeah, DMT.

05:46 Yeah, I'm gonna use that, no doubt about that.

05:48 I'm gonna drop that.

05:49 While we're talking about the ring,

05:51 you know, your training, like, compared to other fights,

05:55 like, what is your training regimen now

05:57 for the upcoming fight with Paul?

05:59 Hey, it's just concentrate, I'm training three times a day.

06:03 And it's just consistent training.

06:05 Health, diet, agility.

06:08 What's next for you guys?

06:11 Like, where do you see Karma and brands like Tyson 2.0 going?

06:16 So we continue to expand in tons of new categories.

06:18 Our cafes and retail, brick and mortar, is an exciting one.

06:22 We opened our second one in Amsterdam.

06:24 We have two coming to line in Barcelona.

06:26 We have a couple under negotiation here in the U.S.

06:28 So excited about that.

06:29 And it's like a restaurant and smoking lounge?

06:31 Correct, yeah.

06:32 So if you go to the one in Amsterdam,

06:33 you can actually get ear-shaped cakes and chocolates and different products.

06:39 So same concept.

06:40 We'll have different edibles, different products,

06:43 some infused, some non-infused.

06:45 Some people want to come in and just experience Mike's Cafe,

06:48 but in the shape of whether it's a boxing glove, an ear,

06:51 or following that franchise model,

06:53 letting people connect with Mike through the Tyson 2.0 coffee space.

06:56 Looking ahead, you know, we're at a point, like, the precipice,

07:00 like, legalization may or may not happen.

07:03 We don't know what the DEA is going to decide.

07:05 Does that decision matter to you guys?

07:08 Absolutely.

07:09 Like, will it help you?

07:10 Yeah, tell me what you guys are thinking and hoping.

07:12 Absolutely.

07:13 So the rescheduling of cannabis, obviously, for one, three night and day,

07:16 because that then moves forward with the Safe Banking Act,

07:18 which just a flood of capital will flow into the industry,

07:21 game-changing, get investors coming in that may, you know,

07:25 not touch it otherwise.

07:27 No 280E.

07:28 Correct, which changes the game completely.

07:30 The marketing side of it as well, you're able to mass educate,

07:33 so educating on a much larger scale than we are today

07:36 because you're so limited on marketing restrictions and such.

07:39 So moving it from a one to a three changes all the marketing side,

07:42 the capital, I mean, and for us, it's game-changing.

07:44 Just the growth opportunity is endless.

07:47 And eventually that leads to federal legalization, right?

07:54 Coming up in New York in the '70s and '80s,

07:57 are you shocked at what's happening,

07:59 or have you kind of been waiting for decades to see marijuana be normalized?

08:02 Well, listen, I'm extremely shocked, but as time goes on, as it went on,

08:07 I saw it was going--even when people were fighting against it to be legal,

08:10 I saw it was like a big snowball coming down the mountain,

08:13 the hill was getting bigger and bigger,

08:15 and soon it's going to run over everybody and stop everybody,

08:18 and we're just going to all have to give in.

08:20 And the momentum is here.

08:22 The momentum is here. That's what I was trying to express.

08:24 The momentum is just amazing.

08:26 You know, going to psychedelics, we're talking about DMT.

08:29 Where do you see that in line with cannabis?

08:32 Do you think that's the next step?

08:34 Do you think we're going to see a world where psychedelics are FDA-approved medications?

08:40 100%. 100%.

08:42 I've heard stories of people who didn't think they had to play--

08:46 a professional baseball player that was a pitcher didn't think he had to pitch that thing

08:50 and took some LSD and figured they had to pitch and hit a no-hitter.

08:54 So I think this is stuff from the universe that makes us better people

08:59 because it's in our plants, it's in our grasses all over the place,

09:03 it's in our fruits and our vegetables all over the place, and God made it.

09:08 Maybe we just have to figure out where is that.

09:10 All the medicines right here, you just got to find it.

09:12 You know, what's next for Tyson 2.0? Where are you going to take it?

09:16 Sky's the limit. Sky's the limit.

09:19 We got to put our thinking hats together.

09:22 We got to think we're going to conquer the world.

09:24 We want to be in every country that's existing.

09:26 Every country in the planet is going to have Tyson, Mike Weiss, Tyson 2.0,

09:31 some kind of--something that's involved with Tyson 2.0 in the country.

09:35 It's going to be all over the planet.

09:37 We want everybody to know our name, know our product, know the product's valuability.

09:42 It's just like a dream come true.

09:44 I can't even--I thank God every moment of the day.

09:47 Why does God, why the universe, whatever we believe in, why am I the face of it?

09:52 Why am I a guy, uneducated?

09:55 Mike Tyson, why am I the face of cannabis or psychedelic?

09:58 Why me? I don't even know how to spell cannabis and psychedelic.

10:01 Why am I the face of it? And everybody accepts me as that.

10:04 You know how proud I am to know that everybody that's in that street,

10:07 how many people, we got 22 million people in the city, whatever it is,

10:10 and they know I'm the cannabis king.

10:13 I'm very grateful for that. Great deal of gratitude.

10:16 Mike, pleasure to meet you. Thank you so much for your time.

10:19 Thank you. Thank you. And happy 4/20.

10:22 Happy 4/20.

10:23 [Music]

Mike Tyson On Taking A Bite Out Of The Cannabis Industry | Forbes

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