Jeffrey Schweers

Democrat staff writer

Who is Christian Bax?

Bax, 32, is director of the Office of Compassionate Use in the Department of Health. It is a three-person agency set up to oversee the licensing of dispensaries and the registration of patients and doctors under the state’s Compassionate Use Act. He oversees an industry that is estimated to be worth close to $2 billion in just a few years.

What are his qualifications?

Bax received his MBA from Babson College in Massachusetts in 2015, not long before he was appointed to his current post. Prior to getting an MBA, Bax received a law degree from Florida State University in 2012, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Alabama in 2007.

Most of the work Bax listed on his resume was done while getting his MBA in Boston:

CEO of Renegade Companies, a startup media production company, from 2013-15.

a business development consultant to Target Molecule, a Chinese biotech company, from 2014-15.

co-founder of CBK Consulting, specializing in helping secure six medical marijuana licenses for clients in Nevada and Washington state, from 2013-15

A search of the Massachusetts Division of Corporations found no records listing Christian Bax as an officer of any corporation while he was in the state. No record of Renegade Companies exists in the corporation database, either.

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Florida Division of Corporations lists Renegade Companies of Longboat Key as being founded in 2000. Bax is listed as its vice president.

Target Molecule was not incorporated until June 28, 2015, records show. Bax said he was a consultant to them starting in 2014.

Several other news outlets have been unable to substantiate claims Bax made about securing the medical marijuana licenses in Nevada and Washington.

Bax is not listed as an officer of any company in Massachusetts, Nevada or Washington. There is no record of a CBK Consulting in Massachusetts. Nevada records show a CBK Consulting listing Ray Levinson as the registered agent was permanently revoked in 2010, but Bax was not affiliated with that company, state officials said. A search of Washington corporations found no match for CBK Consulting.

Bax was thoroughly vetted before he was hired, said Mara Gambineri, spokeswoman for the Department of Health.

On top of that, he has been grilled about his background while under oath during several court hearings.

CBK Consulting was a partnership Bax had with two other people, she said. There is no filing requirement for general partnerships under state law, she said.

Renegade Companies was incorporated in Florida and has not done business of any kind since Bax accepted his position at OCU, Gambineri said.

He worked with Target Molecule during their application and acceptance to a summer business program at Babson College, she said.

He left before they filed their incorporation papers with the state of Massachusetts, she said.

"The department has complete faith in Mr. Bax’s ability to lead the Office of Compassionate Use," Gambineri said. "Mr. Bax has testified about his professional background, under oath, in open court several times."

Family connections

Bax’s sister, Laura Bax Bane, got her bachelor’s degree in hospitality administration and management from the University of Central Florida in 2012. After working on Steve Southerland’s congressional campaign in 2012, she was hired by Gov. Rick Scott in 2013 as his judicial appointments coordinator.

She emailed her brother’s resume on June 29, 2015, to Courtney Coppola in the Office of General Counsel to Gov. Rick Scott for the compassionate use directorship job before the job was published. He was the only candidate for the job.

Coppola is now statewide coordinator for the Office of Compassionate Use.

Neither job was publicly advertised, at the behest of Celeste Philip, the current Surgeon General who was then Deputy Secretary for Health and Deputy State Health Officer for Children's Medical Services. "Due to the specific and unique functions" of the position, Philip said, Bax was "the best candidate" for the position. She offered him the job in July 23, 2015, at a salary of $75,000 a year. Coppola was hired at $50,000 a year.

Christian and Laura Bax's father is James Bax, a former state Department of Health and Human Resources director and major Republican Party fundraiser. He is listed as president of Renegade Companies.

Contact Schweers at jschweers@tallahassee.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffschweers.