Altria Group

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Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO), previously called Philip Morris Companies Inc., is one of the world's largest food, beverage, and tobacco corporations and a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Altria owns 100% of Philip Morris USA, Philip Morris International, and Philip Morris Capital Corporation. It also owns 84% of Kraft Foods Inc. and 36% of SABMiller plc.

Philip Morris is the world's largest commercial tobacco company (not including the China National Tobacco Co. monopoly). Their flagship Marlboro brand is the world leader.

It trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MO (thus the nickname "Big Mo").

Philip Morris was begun by a London tobacconist named Philip Morris. He was one of the first people to sell hand-rolled cigarettes in the 1860s, selling them under the brand names Oxford and Cambridge Blues, following the adoption of cigarette smoking by British soldiers returning from the Crimean War.

The company opened its New York office in 1902. It moved its headquarters and most of its staff to Arlington, Virginia after Mayor Mike Bloomberg imposed smoking bans in the city, especially in its bars and restaurants.

Philip Morris bought Kraft Foods on October 30, 1988 for US$13.1 billion.

On January 27, 2003, Philip Morris Companies Inc. changed its name to Altria Group, Inc.

In November of 2004, it was annouced that Altria was considering splitting itself into three separate companies, because the United States tobacco liability problem was lowering the valuation of all areas of its business, including international tobacco sales.

Executive Staff

CEO, Philip Morris USA - Michael Szymanczyk

Altria Group

Executive Staff

See also

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