Philip Morris International

In 1847 Philip Morris opened a tobacco shop on London’s Bond Street, but he is not connected to today’s Philip Morris International (PMI).⁠[1]

Marlboro was established and registered as a trademark in 1908.⁠[2]

In 1957 Philip Morris signed an agreement with Fabriques de Tabac Réunies in Switzerland to produce the first Marlboro cigarettes made outside the United States, and it acquired that company in 1963.⁠[3]

In 1972 Marlboro became the world’s best-selling cigarette.⁠[2]

Philip Morris International was incorporated in 1987 as an operating company of Philip Morris Companies Inc.AltriaAltria Group, Inc., formerly Philip Morris Companies Inc., is an American tobacco company whose wholly owned subsidiaries include Philip Morris USA, John Middleton, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, Helix Innovations and NJOY; its stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.Open the full entry, which changed its name to Altria Group in 2003.⁠[1]

In May 2005 a PMI subsidiary completed the acquisition of 98% of the outstanding shares of Sampoerna, an Indonesian tobacco company, at a total cost of about $4.8 billion. In the same quarter PMI acquired a 97.9% stake in Coltabaco of Colombia for about $300 million.⁠[4]

In December 2005 PMI signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China National Tobacco Corporation.⁠[5]

PMI’s separation from Altria Group was completed as of the close of business on March 28, 2008, with Louis C. Camilleri as chairman and chief executive officer and André Calantzopoulos as chief operating officer.⁠[6]

Altria distributed one PMI share for every share of Altria common stock. PMI shares began regular-way trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PM on March 31, 2008, and also traded on NYSE Euronext Paris and the SWX Swiss Exchange. As of April 2008, PMI was a constituent of the S&P 100 and S&P 500S&P 500The S&P 500 is a U.S. large-cap equity index compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices. It includes 500 leading companies, covers about 80% of available market capitalization and is described by S&P DJI as “widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities.”Open the full entry indices.⁠[7]

In August 2008, licensed production of Marlboro began at two cigarette factories in China.⁠[5]

In the third quarter of 2008 PMI completed its acquisition of Rothmans Inc. of Canada for CAD 30.00 per share in cash, an aggregate transaction value of about CAD 2.0 billion on a fully diluted basis.⁠[8]

André Calantzopoulos served as PMI’s chief executive officer from 2013.⁠[9]

In 2014 PMI piloted IQOS, its first heat-not-burn platform, and in 2016 it announced its vision to deliver a “smoke-free future.”⁠[2]

In December 2015 the tribunal hearing Philip Morris Asia’s challenge to Australia’s tobacco plain packaging laws unanimously agreed with the Australian government that it had no jurisdiction.⁠[10]

In July 2016 the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ruled for Uruguay, rejecting Philip Morris’s demand that the tobacco regulations be withdrawn, not applied to it, or replaced by $22 million in damages, and ordering it to pay Uruguay $7 million and all tribunal fees. General counsel Marc Firestone said, “We’ve never questioned Uruguay’s authority to protect public health.”⁠[11]

In 2019 Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, Imperial Tobacco Canada and JTI-Macdonald sought creditor protection in Ontario after a Quebec ruling, upheld on appeal, ordered them to pay about $15 billion to plaintiffs in two class actions.⁠[12]

In March 2025 a Canadian court sanctioned the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) plans of Rothmans, Benson & Hedges (RBH), PMI’s deconsolidated Canadian affiliate, and two other tobacco companies, which will together pay CAD 32.5 billion (about $22.7 billion). PMI said, “PMI is pleased that this legal process will now draw to a close.”⁠[13]

On April 30, 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) permitted Philip Morris Products S.A. to sell the IQOS Tobacco Heating System and Marlboro Heatsticks in the U.S. through the premarket tobacco product application pathway, with adult-targeted advertising and limits on youth access. The FDA stressed that this “does not mean these products are safe or ‘FDA approved.’”⁠[14]

On September 25, 2019, PMI announced that its merger discussions with Altria Group had ended. Chief executive André Calantzopoulos said the companies had agreed “to focus on launching IQOS in the U.S.”⁠[15]

On July 7, 2020, the FDA authorized the IQOS 2.4 system and HeatSticks to be marketed as modified risk tobacco products, stating that switching completely to IQOS significantly reduces exposure to harmful or potentially harmful chemicals. The IQOS 3.0 system received a similar order in March 2022, and the FDA renewed these orders on April 17, 2026.⁠[16]

On December 10, 2020, PMI announced that chairman Louis Camilleri would retire effective immediately and that Jacek Olczak had been elected chief executive officer and Calantzopoulos executive chairman, both effective May 2021. Olczak joined the company in 1993 and served as chief financial officer from 2012 and chief operating officer from 2018.⁠[17]

Olczak became chief executive officer after the annual shareholders meeting on May 5, 2021, saying he would “accelerate our transformation into a smoke-free company.”⁠[9]

On June 22, 2021, PMI announced that it would move its U.S. headquarters from New York to Fairfield County, Connecticut, bringing about 200 jobs, with the relocation slated for completion by summer 2022. The governor’s office said no job-based state incentives had been offered.⁠[18]

In 2022 PMI relocated its corporate headquarters from New York City to Stamford.⁠[2]

On October 20, 2022, PMI agreed with Altria to end the companies’ commercial relationship covering IQOS in the U.S. as of April 30, 2024, after which PMI would hold full rights to commercialize IQOS there, for a total cash consideration of $2.7 billion.⁠[19]

On November 10, 2022, PMI affiliate PMHH held about 85.87 percent of Swedish Match through its offer and purchases outside the offer. Chief executive Olczak said the deal would bring “IQOS and ZYN together in both the U.S. and international markets.”⁠[20]

On November 28 PMHH’s holding reached 93.11 percent, and it said it intended to initiate compulsory redemption and request delisting of Swedish Match’s shares from Nasdaq Stockholm.⁠[21]

PMI sold Vectura Group Ltd. on December 31, 2024, and then updated its segment reporting.⁠[22]

On January 16, 2025, the FDA authorized the marketing of 20 ZYN nicotine pouch products in 3 mg and 6 mg strengths across ten flavors through the premarket tobacco product application pathway, because they contain substantially lower amounts of harmful constituents than cigarettes and most smokeless tobacco products. The FDA said the authorization does not mean the products are safe or FDA approved.⁠[23]

On November 4, 2025, PMI announced that from January 1, 2026 it would have two primary business units, PMI International and PMI U.S., both reporting to Group CEO Olczak, and would replace its four geographic reporting segments with International Smoke-Free, International Combustibles and U.S. Frederic de Wilde was appointed CEO of PMI International, and Stacey Kennedy remained CEO of PMI U.S.⁠[24]

In 2025 PMI’s net revenues were $40.6 billion, up 7.3% (6.5% organically), of which smoke-free net revenues were $16.9 billion, or 41.5%. Diluted earnings per share were $7.26 and operating income was $14.9 billion. ZYN shipments reached 794 million cans and heated tobacco unit shipments 155.1 billion.⁠[25]

At December 31, 2025, PMI employed approximately 84,900 people worldwide, its smoke-free products were sold in 106 markets and its cigarettes in approximately 170 markets, and IQOS, ZYN and VEEV were the leading brands in its smoke-free portfolio.⁠[22]

As of December 31, 2025, PMI estimated more than 43 million legal-age consumers of its smoke-free products and had invested over $16 billion in smoke-free products since 2008. It aims for over two-thirds of total net revenues to come from smoke-free products by 2030.⁠[26]

On June 30, 2026, the FDA issued modified risk granted orders for 20 ZYN nicotine pouch products of Swedish Match USA, allowing a claim that using ZYN instead of cigarettes lowers the risk of mouth cancer, heart disease, lung cancer and other diseases. The orders expire after five years and require postmarket surveillance.⁠[27]

In the third quarter of 2026, PMI’s net revenues rose 5.5% to $11.4 billion, its smoke-free business accounted for more than 40% of total net revenues, and diluted earnings per share fell 4.9% to $2.12. It forecast full-year 2026 diluted earnings per share of $7.11 to $7.26.⁠[28]