The history of Philip Morris International

Philip Morris International became a free-standing publicly traded company in March 2008, following a spin-off from Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris USA.

In 1847 England Philip Morris Esq, a tobacconist and importer of fine cigars, opened a shop in London’ Bond Street selling hand-rolled Turkish cigarettes.

England Philip Morris began making his own cigarettes in 1854. Old Bond Street soon became the center of the retail tobacco trade.

In 1881, Leopold Morris, son of Phillip, join Joseph Grunebaum, Ltd. This partnership dissolved in 1885 and the company became known as Philip Morris & Co., Ltd.

The company was taken over by William Curtis Thomson and his family in 1894. Since 1872 Gustav Eckmeyer acts as sole agent for Philip Morris in the US importing and selling English-made cigarettes.

In 1902, Philip Morris & Co., Ltd. is incorporated in New York.

In 1908, Marlboro is established and registered as trademark. By 1972, Marlboro becomes the world’s number one selling cigarettes. In 1919, a new company is incorporated in Virginia under the name Philip Morris & Co. Ltd., Inc. and starts to manufacture cigarettes in its factory in Richmond by the end of the next decade.

In 1924 the company introduced Marlboro as a women’s cigarette as “mild as May.” By 1985, Philip Morris Companies Inc. becomes a holding company and acquires General Foods. Other acquisitions in the food sector follow over the next decade, including Kraft Foods and Jacobs Suchard.

In 1987 Philip Morris International is incorporated as an operating company of Philip Morris Companies Inc.

By 2003, Philip Morris Companies Inc. is renamed Altria Group, Inc., and remains the parent company of Kraft Foods Inc., Philip Morris International, Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris Capital Corporation.
The history of Philip Morris International