Juul Co-Founder, James Monsees Steps Down

James Monsees, co-founder of vaping giant, Juul, on Thursday announced that he is leaving the e-cigarette company because of the current regulatory scrutiny faced by the company.

“As both a founder and a major shareholder, I could not be more proud of the thoughtful actions that are being taken and the people in whose hands I’m leaving the company for its next great chapter,” Monsees wrote in an internal email announcing his departure.

Monsees added that in the light of the event, he will seize the moment to spend time with his family as it was earlier reported that Monsees just got married.

He also expressed confidence in Juul CEO KC Crosthwaite, who took over in September. “The company reset and the actions we recently took to combat the unacceptable levels of youth use are both necessary and the right thing to do,” Monsees wrote.

Both former smokers, Monsees and fellow co-founder, Adam Bowen, met at Stanford University and launched their e-cigarette company, Ploom, in 2007.

The firm was renamed Pax Labs in 2015 and it launched the Juul e-cigarette that year before Juul was spun into a separate company in 2017.