Alex Kwon did not set out to build one of the largest vaporizer companies in the cannabis industry. It started out as a side project to help his East Wenatchee, Washington-based cannabis extracts company, Sungrown. stand out in the crowded market. But six weeks after launching a new a vape cartridge in November 2018, the product generated $1.6 million in revenue—and Kwon knew he had a real business.

“That was the moment that I was, like, ‘We should do something with this,’” the 41-year-old Kwon tells Forbes.

It’s taken years and tens of millions of dollars spent on lawsuits—including a falling out with his business partner and a patent infringement case levied by one of China’s biggest vape manufacturers—but Active now controls an estimated 20% of the vape hardware market and generates an estimated $100 million in annual revenue by selling its devices to some of the biggest companies in the $30 billion (est. 2025 revenue) cannabis industry—from Trulieve to Curaleaf to Jeeter—who fill those devices with their own THC oil.

“We have gotten run over by a bus seven times,” says Kwon as he pops a Zyn in his mouth. “Somehow we’re still here and still growing.”

While Kwon still owns Sungrown, which generates about $20 million in annual revenue by selling cannabis flower, vapes, pre-rolls and gummies under a suite of brands, eight-year-old Active is his biggest company. Vapes are the second-best selling category in the U.S. cannabis market with $6 billion in sales in 2024. Flower remains the top seller with $9 billion in sales over the same period.

Raised in the Chicago suburbs, Kwon is the first in his family to be born in the United States. His parents, who ran a wholesale clothing business in the city, and older brother were from South Korea. As the second born, Kwon was the “rebel,” while his brother, Sung, was the responsible one.

“I told myself for a long time that all the good in me is him and all the bad in me is me,” says Kwon. “I was the kid who always got in trouble, the hell raiser.”

Kwon smoked weed for the first time in fifth grade, shoplifted candy with his friends, and once stole his older brother’s car. But he........

© Forbes