Meet The Cannabis Industry’s Trump Whisperer

Forbes is celebrating the entrepreneurs and innovators in the state-regulated cannabis market with its fifth annual cannabis 42.0 list. One notable member is Kim Rivers, CEO and chairman of Trulieve, a Florida-based cannabis company. Rivers played a crucial role in President Donald Trump's decision to issue an executive order on December 18, 2025, directing Attorney General Pam Bondi to reschedule marijuana as a less dangerous drug. For the past two years, Rivers, alongside Boston financier Howard Kessler and other business leaders, led a lobbying campaign to persuade President Trump to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I substance (like heroin and LSD) to Schedule III (alongside ketamine and steroids). This rescheduling, if completed, would be the most significant federal drug reform in nearly 60 years. Rivers states that the president reached this decision independently, believing it is "the best thing for the American people." Rivers has become known as the "Trump whisperer" within the cannabis industry, successfully representing the industry and debating naysayers in the Oval Office, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, on the need to end the war on pot and regulate its medical uses. Her success is attributed to her connections as a respected Floridian CEO. Trulieve, co-founded by Rivers, grew from a single dispensary in 2016 to a major cannabis company with $1.2 billion in sales last year, nearly 239 stores across eight states, and a 35% market share in Florida's medical market. Rivers and Trulieve also made significant political donations to Trump-related groups and his inaugural committee, attended fundraising events, and secured meetings in the Oval Office. These efforts have made her the most influential executive in the state-regulated marijuana industry, which now includes 40 states with medical sales and 25 with recreational markets. Rivers' journey began in 2014 when she ventured into the nascent cannabis industry. After Florida's initial attempt to legalize medical marijuana failed, she collaborated with Richard May, John JT Burnett, and Thad Beshears' family to form a consortium, creating Trulieve. They secured one of five medical marijuana licenses in 2015, opening their first dispensary and cultivation facility in 2016. Trulieve went public in Canada two years later and became one of the country's largest cannabis companies in 2021 by acquiring Harvest Health in a $1.4 billion deal. Today, Rivers owns approximately 10% of the company's stock, valued at over $100 million.