Leslie Bocskor is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, business executive, investment banker, and business advisor. After starting his career in finance and investment banking, in the 1990s he began investing primarily in internet and new media properties, later expanding into science, cybersecurity, and internet gaming. He also co-founded and headed a number of technology companies. In 2013 he became founding chairman of the Nevada Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), and he co-founded Electrum Partners in January 2014, becoming a managing partner. The firm develops strategies for the expansion of the legal cannabis market, and also operates a hedge fund focused on cannabis-related companies.

Beyond Electrum Partners, Bocskor served as president of the consulting company Venture Catalyst LLC, until 2014 and in late 2015 he was elected to the board of directors of Grow Solutions Holdings, Inc. In May of 2016 he joined the board of Growblox Sciences, Inc. (OTCMKTS:GBLX).

Bocskor has made frequent press appearances as an expert on finances and investment banking, and in 2014 Cannabis Business Executive ranked him No. 58 on their Cannabis Business Executive 100 list, which ranks the most influential people in the cannabis industry.

Long involved with philanthropy and the arts, he is currently chairman of organizations such as The Society for Experimental Arts and Learning and the Figment Project, which puts on annual art festivals in New York City. He also is a founding board member of the "creativity"-oriented First Friday Foundation, which puts on an annual arts festival and supports community organizations in the Las Vegas area.

Leslie N. Bocskor was born in 1964 in New York City, where he spent his youth. His background is partly Romanian, particularly the region of Transylvania. According to Bocskor, he first dabbled in business at age thirteen, when he started making sandwiches to sell at his middle school "like buying wholesale and selling retail." From 1981 to 1982 he attended York Preparatory School.

In the 1980s Bocskor worked as a broker at Lehman Brothers, and from 1990 to 1992 he worked as director of sales at Dat's Incredible. He co-founded Mason Cabot, LLC in June 1995, working at the company as an investment banker until October 1999. The investment bank focused on early-stage media technology and finance. In the mid to late-1990s, Bocskor began investing exclusively in internet and new media properties, later explaining his focus on those industries came from a long-term interest in technology. He became the president and chairman of ModeEleven, Inc. in December 1999, remaining with the company for seven years. The company worked in technology, resulting in a number of technical accolades.

Bocskor increasingly invested in the life science, cybersecurity, and internet gaming industries after the 1990s. In January 2000 he became the CEO of Fine Point Technologies, a role he served in for slightly over a year. Also in early 2000 he was appointed President and acting CFO of then public, Invicta, Corp (formerly Businessnet Holdings). He was appointed president of the consulting company Venture Catalyst LLC in June 2000, a role he continued to hold until late 2014. Bocskor became a managing partner of the advisory firm Lenox Hill Partners, LLC in May 2005, which focused on corporate finance and business consulting.

Starting in April 2007 he served two years on the board of directors of Inspired Media Entertainment, after agreeing to serve as interim co-chair when the company underwent significant management restructuring. He served as president of DLTA Ventures, LLC from October 2008 until September 2009. Bocskor continued to be a managing partner for Lenox Hill Partners in New York City by 2009, with the consulting firm focusing at the time on "web-based" gaming interests. As a representative of Lenox Hill Partners, around 2009 Bocskor was a vocal supporter of the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, which sought to "essentially repeal the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and instead tax and regulate online gaming." Bocskor was quoted stating that “[the United States has] tried prohibiting [US online gambling] without success, and lost enormous amounts of potential tax revenue. Business opportunity that has gone overseas... is taking capital out of the U.S. economy."

He moved to Nevada in 2010, citing an interest in "the convergence of technology, online gaming and the gambling industry." Bocskor soon grew interested in investing in the burgeoning legal cannabis market in Nevada, and by 2012 was studying the industry. He worked in the investment banking division of Network One Financial, Inc. from February 2011 to September 2012, and was a managing partner of Lenox Hill Partners until June 2011.

After Bocskor became increasingly involved in the Nevada political scene in relation to medical cannabis, in November 2013 he was asked by the executive director of the Nevada Cannabis Industry Association (NVCIA) to join NVCIA as founding chairman. By that time Bocskor was a member of the ArcView Angel Investor Network, a firm in San Francisco that provides "venture-style financing" to companies in the legal cannabis industry. As a part of the selection committee and a business advisor for ArcView, he periodically serves as a panelist or speaks at ArcView events and conferences.

As of July 2014, Bocskor and the Nevada Cannabis Industry Association were advocating for the passage of a ballot initiative called the Coalition To Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Nevada. By November 2014, they had successfully raised around twice the number of signatures required for the initiative to make the 2016 ballot in Nevada.

He co-founded Electrum Partners in January 2014, becoming a managing partner of the firm along with James DeRose and Gordon Katz. The firm develops strategies for the expansion of the legal cannabis market. The media also reported that through Electrum, Bocskor was developing a hedge fund for the "deployment of capital on a state-by-state and national basis to meet the growing demand for legal cannabis." Additionally, in August 2014 Electrum Partners announced that it was working to set up a "consulting firm to assist state governments in setting up regulatory guidelines for medical cannabis."

More details on the then-unnamed Electrum hedge fund were released in August 2014.

The fund, which was not then accepting investments, would have minimum investment amounts of $100,000.

Bocskor stated that the fund would be investing in businesses directly involved in marijuana cultivation as well as peripheral services, and described "opportunities" in relation to life science, biotechnology, the nutraceutical industry, and the industrial use of hemp. According to The Deal Pipeline, companies in the fund's investment portfolio would be given assistance raising capital and guidance "on management, structure and product issues." By late 2014 Bocskor continued to be active as one of the 300 member investors at ArcView. He was advising five companies in southern Nevada about securing medical cannabis licenses in October 2014, and at that point he had provided seed funding and guidance to twelve cannabis startups overall.

He continued to serve as a managing partner of Electrum Partners at the start of 2015.

In March 2015, Bocskor stated that the still-to-launch Electrum Fund would be based in Nevada but would invest throughout the United States, and that "in the fund we create after this one, we'll probably be looking at the international market as well."

As of March 2015, Crain Communications reported that Bocskor had "helped 15 organizations successfully apply for marijuana distribution licenses," partly through his involvement with the Nevada Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA).

In March 2015, Bocskor and cofounder of Electrum Partners, Gordon Katz, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch the Electrum Fund, which would be organized in accordance with financial guidelines issued by the Department of Justice and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINcen). With a cap of $25 million, *Fast Company * projected that the funds would be invested solely in the cannabis industry. Bocskor stated "we will be investing in private and public cannabis companies in the U.S. as well as those listed on foreign exchanges in London, Canada and Australia." In Canada, Bocskor was reported to be "circling" the companies Aurora and Tweed. In April 2015, *Crain’s New York * reported that Bocskor expected to open a Manhattan office for the Electrum Fund by June. Electrum Partners Llc, filed for $500,000 equity financing on July 13, 2015, reaching 100.00% of its initial financing round for the Electrum Partners, LLC.

In December 2015, ArcView named Bocskor their Most Valuable Member of the Year.

Pamela Johnston joined Electrum Partners' management in February 2016.

At the time, the firm remained actively involved with The ArcView Group, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), the National Cannabis Industry Association (NCIA), Red Estatal de Mujeres Antiprohibicionistas and Women Grow.

CNBC reported in July 2016 that Bocskor was advising United For Care, a group backing the passage of Amendment Two in Florida, intended to expand the legalization of medical cannabis to include "debilitating" conditions.

Bocskor is involved with a number of nonprofit and artistic organizations.

Early in his career he was a regional coordinator for Burning Man. He was Chairman of The Society for Experimental Arts and Learning since February 2002, and three years later he became chairman of the Figment Project, which organizes annual participatory arts events. The organization's annual Figment Festival on Governors Island is inspired by the Burning Man ethos, and was named Best Art Festival in 2011 by the *Village Voice *. In April 2007, Bocskor was described as the co-founder of several arts non-profits, "as well as numerous computer software, entertainment and technology companies." In 2010 he began serving as chairman of the Las Vegas Halloween Parade, moving to the state that year.

In October 2012, he became a board member of the First Friday Foundation, which supports community organizations in the Las Vegas area on "creativity"-oriented projects.

First Friday also organizes a monthly nonprofit arts festival in Las Vegas with the intent of bringing attention to struggling art galleries and antique shops. As of 2012, Bocskor was chairman of Society for Experimental Arts and Learning, described as a creative group "that supports collaborative community arts projects." Bocskor and his wife Cory Mervis have worked on a number of Burning Man-related projects, including overseeing a large "Burning Man inspired event" in downtown Las Vegas in March 2012. Other roles he continues to hold are chairman of the Las Vegas Halloween Parade, board member of the First Friday Foundation, chairman of The Society for Experimental Arts and Learning, and chairman of Figment Project.

Bocskor has made frequent press appearances as an expert on finances and investment banking, particularly in relation to the online gambling and cannabis industries. Publications such as *Fortune *, CNBC, *Reuters *, the Daily News, the *Orange County Register *, *Fast Company *, the *Washington Post *, the *Chicago Tribune *, and *High Times * have featured Bocskor in articles, and he has also been interviewed by Reuters Video. In 2016, he has been quoted as an expert on the legal cannabis industry in *The Guardian *, *Yahoo! Finance *, *Forbes *, CNBC, and *USA Today *, among other media outlets. Also featured in various media outlets for his influence on the industry, *Leafly * wrote in 2016 that he had been "called the Warren Buffett of cannabis."

Bocskor also makes frequent appearances as a speaker or panelist at industry events.

Among other issues, he has talked about the potential in cannabis and hemp legalization, stating that the new market "eclipses the birth of the internet.

This is the greatest entrepreneurial opportunity we've seen in generations."

Bocskor has also talked about what he looks for in a portfolio company, stating he prefers entrepreneurs with "big vision" and a firm grasp of the cannabis market and its changing regulations.

Other topics have included the difficulties that marijuana-related companies face with the banking industry, and the chance for the Canadian cannabis industry to benefit from American legalization.

Beyond Electrum Partners, he is also still a member of the ArcView Angel Investor Network, and as of 2014 was an advisor for companies such as the First Friday Foundation. On August 10, 2015, he was elected to the board of directors of Grow Solutions Holdings, Inc.

Bocskor and his wife Cory Mervis moved to Las Vegas in 2011, after Bocskor had spent 45 years of his life in New York.

Their son was born in 2011.

As of March 2015, he continued to live in Las Vegas and at times travel to New York City. Involved in the arts, in 2015 Bocskor stated that he had attended every Burning Man event since the late 1990s.