Many entrepreneurs are making big money from cannabidiol, more commonly known as CBD. The substance is one of more than 100 cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant and is thought to help treat a wide range of conditions including anxiety, insomnia, menstrual pain and dementia, among others, although other experts dispute this. Regardless, a rapidly growing industry, estimated to be worth $16 billion (£13bn) by 2025, has sprung up around CBD. Click through to meet the people who are making fortunes from the so-called "miracle cure-all". 

Adam Bierman and Andrew Modlin co-founded MedMen as a medical marijuana and CBD product dispensary back in 2010. The pair had already been running a branding, design and construction business together out of their apartment when they got a call from a woman running a marijuana dispensary who wanted to hire them for marketing purposes. They went on to found their own company MedMen a year later, with Bierman as CEO and Modlin as president.

Bierman and Modlin's vision was to build a company that could destigmatise cannabis but to do that they also had to basically build the industry. MedMen has gone on to become one of the leading cannabis and CBD companies in North America and also advocates for progressive cannabis laws at local, state and federal law. Yahoo! Finance last year reported each held 3.96 million MedMen Class B shares, which are currently valued at about $11 million (£9m) going by the stock's listed price.

Troy Dayton is CEO of The Arcview Group, the cannabis investment network he co-founded with Steve DeAngelo. One of the biggest players in the sector, Arcview's network of more than 600 accredited investors have collectively invested about $200 million (£164m) in 175 start-ups. He has been advocating for a change in cannabis laws since he was 18 and founded Students for Sensible Drug Policy. Dayton then founded a dot.com media company, which went bust, and then a renewable energy company in Colorado. 

Dayton co-founded Arcview after he realised there were plenty of wannabe investors and cannabis-related companies seeking investment while working as lead fundraiser for the Marijuana Policy Project. He also co-founded a crowdfunding platform for hemp and cannabis companies called WECANNA, and is a partner in the seed-stage accelerator programme and venture fund Canopy Builder. Arcview Group expects sales of CBD products to outpace legal marijuana sales in the US within five years.

Steve DeAngelo was already CEO of Harborside Health Center, one of the first six cannabis and CBD-related product dispensaries licensed in the US, when he co-founded Arcview Group with Troy Dayton. Once hailed as the "Father of the Cannabis Industry", DeAngelo was also one of the co-founders of Steep Hill Laboratory, the first dedicated cannabis medical testing laboratory in the US. Prior to his involvement in the industry DeAngelo was actually against big business getting involved in the cannabis industry, and according to Inc.com was involved with smoke-ins promoting legalisation in front of the White House. But he had a change of heart...

DeAngelo has since become one of the world's leading activist for cannabis and CBD products. He outlined many of his views in a book called The Cannabis Manifesto, which aimed to promote discussion about its biological, medical and spiritual effects on humans. DeAngelo recently described now as the "golden age" for cannabis investment, particularly by small and medium investors. 

People who became millionaires later in life

Joshua Haupt was just 14 when he was diagnosed with epilepsy. He became determined to find an alternative remedy to treat his seizures and ended up growing cannabis in his late teens to help control them. By the age of 24, Haupt, from Colorado, replaced his epilepsy medication with CBD. He went on to set up a cannabis guidebook company, Pono Publications, and marijuana nutrient line, Success Nutrients. Haupt claims his "Three A Light" growing methods yield three times more cannabis than average.

Haupt, pictured left, sold both Pono Publications and Success Nutrients to Medicine Man Technologies for seven million shares in 2017. He personally owns 4.4 million shares, which are currently worth about $13 million (£10.6m). But Haupt – who is chief revenue officer at Medicine Man – is likely to be worth more than that, as he also has two growing facilities in Colorado. Now a multimillionaire in his mid-30s, he's earned a reputation as being the "Steve Jobs of cannabis".

"Don of CBD" Joe Vargas got involved in the industry after quitting the US Navy after eight years due to anxiety. He worked his way up as a nightlife executive and was introduced to the cannabis industry. Vargas wasn't sure where CBD itself was going to go, but in what he describes as "probably the biggest risk of my life", threw everything into it and set up BuyLegalMeds.com in 2015. Earlier this year, he acquired the domain name CBDOil.com for $500,000 (£409k).

Vargas has thousands of loyal customers thanks in large part to a huge following on social media, where is known to give away thousands of dollars to followers. But despite living the high life, he's not afraid of putting in the hard work himself. When Vargas set up BuyLegalMeds.com he did nearly all the jobs himself to give the illusion of staff, with some help from family. The company now also sells CBD products at three bricks and mortar stores in Las Vegas.

Daytime TV star Montel Williams is a great believer in the healing power of CBD after using it himself to treat multiple sclerosis, which he was diagnosed with in 1999. When he was first diagnosed with MS, the former US marine – who is estimated to have a net worth of about $10 million (£8m) – was treated with opioids which he says left him with kidney and liver damage. A Harvard neurologist then recommended he use medical cannabis to cut down on the dangerous amounts of medication he was taking. 

Having used CBD products successfully himself, the former US marine decided to launch Montel by Select, a CBD product line which Williams says values "quality, consistency and safety". "My goal is to ensure everyone has access to the same high quality CBD oil I do," he said about the line's launch. Williams is also an advocate for medical cannabis reform across the US.

Actor and comedian Tommy Chong, one half of Cheech & Chong, became something of a stoner icon back in the 1970s. So perhaps it was only appropriate that he went on to found his own marijuana brand Chong's Choice. But he also believes in the power of CBD products and credits his remission from prostate cancer to a change of diet and use of hemp and CBD oils, as well as smoking marijuana to keep his anxiety at bay.

Chong, who is in his 80s and is estimated to be worth $8 million (£6.6m), has also teamed up with Diamond CBD to offer a range of CBD-based products including vapes, oils and tinctures. The businessman said he helped launch the range as he wanted to be part of the "CBD health revolution". He added: “CBD appeals to millions of people that really want the health benefits of cannabis, but maybe aren’t stoners."

Hollywood actress Whoopi Goldberg may have caught the public's eye with starring roles in films including The Color Purple and Sister Act but nowadays she's making waves in the CBD industry. She got involved after discovering that cannabis helped ease her own menstrual cramps. Forbes reported Goldberg saying that cannabis-related products continue to "help me feel better as I get older". 

Iconic ad campaigns that turned companies' fortunes around

Goldberg went on to found Whoopi & Maya with cannabis grower Maya Elisabeth, founder of OM Edibles. The retailer sells a range of brands, tinctures, bath soaks and sipping chocolate claiming to soothe menstrual cramps in California and Colorado. The company is also said to be one of the few of its type to approach the industry from a feminist perspective. Goldberg has a estimated net worth of $45 million (£37m).

Snoop Dogg – whose real name is Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr – may be best known for his rap music but he has long been an advocate of cannabis. He recently told Netflix documentary Grass is Greener that the hip hop industry had done a better job in tackling the war on drugs than the US federal government by promoting marijuana over harder drugs. In 2015, Snoop Dogg helped found cannabis and CBD-centric venture capital fund Casa Verde Capital, which closed its first fund with $45 million (£37m) last year.

Reportedly worth $135 million (£111m) thanks in large part to his music, Snoop Dogg has since invested in a range of cannabis-related projects and initiatives with Casa Verde Capital. These include the Merry Jane multimedia platform, cannabis and CBD product delivery service Eaze and the Cannalysis testing lab. The Drop It Like It's Hot rapper is also credited with getting US TV domestic goddess Martha Stewart involved with the CBD industry. 

The most and least successful celebrity investors

"King of Instagram" Dan Bilzerian is as well known for his lavish lifestyle as he is for being the founder of online CBD seller, Ignite. The son of a Wall Street corporate takeover specialist, Bilzerian, 37, had an early taste of the high life thanks to a generous trust fund. He is also known as a high roller on the professional poker circuit. But his love of partying has also proved costly, with Bilzerian revealing he suffered two heart attacks aged 25 after binging on cocaine and Viagra.

Bilzerian launched his super-premium cannabis brand Ignite in the US last year – with a massive party at his Bel Air mega-mansion. The retailer sells CBD e-cigarettes, vaping liquids, edible drops and lip balms in the US, Canada and the UK. Bilzerian's marketing of Ignite on his Instagram feed, often with scantily-clad women, has caused controversy, but industry experts say that the sheer money and scale of the company could lead to it dominating the sector. 

America's secret industries revealed