Lets get real here. The guy was a crooked securities lawyer for decades before getting disbarred. He planned out exactly what would happen before he bought this shell company.
He gets to collect a nice fat salary off the backs of naive investors, while playing bigshot pot host and smoking up all day.
Absolutely no reason for him to take it private. He can cycle through: 'hype->sell debt->go dark->reverse split' into perpetuity.
If this guy can figure out a way to trash the company and take it private, I dont think it would phase him in the least.