Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is a tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. Marlboro is PMI’s most recognized brand, but in the last quarter of 2023, Iqos generated the greatest revenue. Philip Morris International is often referred to as one of the companies comprising Big Tobacco. The company ranked No. 121 in the 2025 Fortune 500 list of the largest US corporations by total revenue.

The company originated in 1847 in London, but Philip Morris International itself was established in 1987 as an operating company of Philip Morris Companies Inc. In 2003, Philip Morris Companies changed its name to Altria Group. In March 2008, PMI was spun off from Altria and has been an entirely separate entity since then. Philip Morris USA, a subsidiary of PMI's former parent, keeps ownership of the Philip Morris brands for the US market.

The company's legal seat is in Stamford, Connecticut. PMI's operational headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland.

With tobacco being addictive and a leading cause of preventable death globally, the company has faced litigation and regulatory measures from governments and has been the subject of scrutiny by the World Health Organization. The company knowingly maintained the claim that smoking cigarettes is harmless, despite overwhelming external and internal evidence that smoking is addictive and dangerous. In response, the company has diversified in the 21st century into smoke-free products such as the Iqos brand of heated tobacco products, Zyn brand of nicotine pouches, and Veev brand of electronic cigarettes.

The company history began in 1847 with the opening of a single shop on London's Bond Street by a local tobacconist, Philip Morris. The shop gained popularity after the Crimean War, where Turkish tobacco became popular among returning soldiers who started preferring cigarettes over pipe tobacco and cigars. Morris hired more employees to hand-roll them. After Morris died in 1873, his widow Margaret and brother Leopold ran the business. Leopold became the sole owner in 1880 and formed a partnership with Joseph Grunebaum, leading to the incorporation of Philip Morris & Company and Grunebaum, Ltd. in 1881. The company became Philip Morris & Co., Ltd. in 1885 when the partnership dissolved. Highly indebted, it was bought by one of its creditors, William Curtis Thomson, in 1894.

In 1902, King Edward, a long-time customer of the shop, appointed Philip Morris as royal tobacconist, boosting business. That same year, the company was incorporated in the United States by Gustav Eckmeyer, who had been its sole importer and distributor in the New World since 1872. Ownership was shared between Eckmeyer and the parent company, and the venture began selling its first domestic brands along with its traditional luxury imports, including Marlborough, named after one of the London manufactories located on Marlborough street.

In 1919, the American subsidiary was bought by investor Georges Whelan and incorporated in Virginia under the name of Philip Morris & Co., Ltd. Inc. Marlborough dropped the letters u g h in 1924 and was relaunched as a premium cigarette for the growing US female market. With Turkish tobacco falling out of fashion and its brands sitting firmly in the luxury and premium segments, total sales account for as little as 0.5% of the total cigarette market in 1925.

In the early 1950's, growing concerns about the health effects of cigarettes led most manufacturers to add filters: by the end of 1954, filtered brands accounted for more than 10 percent of sales volumes. To enter this market, Philip Morris' executives first decided to purchase Benson & Hedges in 1954, which had pioneered the market with its Parliament brand. However, the brand lost nearly 10% of its market share under the new management. The company then decided a brand repositioning for Marlboro, a premium yet stagnant brand from its portfolio. George Weissman, the new vice-president for marketing and new products, signed up Leo Burnett to the task. The agency's challenge was to appeal to male smokers concerned enough about their health to consider switching to filter cigarettes. The logo and packaging were redesigned and the marketing was supported by a series of Marlboro Men. The campaign was a success: within a year of its national roll-out, volumes increased 3,000%, swiftly becoming the fourth best-selling cigarette brand.