👉 Background: Altria is one of the largest tobacco companies in the world. It was founded back in 1986 in London and owns a whole range of cigarette brands, like Marlboro, Benson & Hedges, Parliament.

👉 What happened: Over the the past decade, they have been looking for ways to “move beyond smoking” - they've literally trademarked this. As part of this big push, Altria paid $12.8 billion USD for a 35% stake in e-cigarette company Juul. That investment went up in fruity-smoke
because the value of Juul has declined by 95% since 2018.

👉 What else: Now, Altria is trying to put that disaster behind it and is investing $2.7 billion to buy NJOY. Although it’s still behind market share of Juul, it’s well ahead in the eyes of the regulators.

What's the key learning?

💡In the business world, your product may be the same, your cash balance may be the same, but your reputation precedes you.

💡Juul and NJOY are both vape makers brands, but with a few major differences:

1. NJOY is an authorized product with regulatory approval - while Juul is pending approval.
2. There are no litigation challenges against NJOY - while Juul has multiple lawsuits on foot.
   
3. The usage of NJOY among teens is supposedly minimal - while Juul which was taken off the shelves for marketing to underage teens.

💡And while the product is pretty similar - fruity, nicotine-y, addictive vapes - the vibe is oh so very different.

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