Editing R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (section)

==History==

===Early history===
[[File:Richard Joshua Reynolds.jpg|thumb|left|160px|[[R. J. Reynolds]], founder]]
[[File:R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company 1906.jpg|thumb|Share of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, issued 15 March 1906]]
The son of a tobacco farmer in Virginia, [[R. J. Reynolds|Richard Joshua "R. J." Reynolds]] sold his shares of his father's company in [[Patrick County, Virginia]], and ventured to the nearest town with a railroad connection, Winston-Salem, to start his own tobacco company.<ref name="winston-salem">{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQTmb8DBvIMC| publisher=John F. Blair, publisher| year=1994|pages=110–11, 184, 196–197| title=Winston-Salem: A History |first=Frank |last=Tursi| isbn=9780895871152}}</ref> He bought his first [[factory]] building from the [[Moravian Church]] and established the "little red factory" with seasonal workers. The first year, he produced {{Convert|150,000|lb}} of tobacco; by the 1890s, production had increased to several million pounds per year.<ref name="winston-salem" /> The company's factory buildings were the largest buildings in Winston-Salem, with new technologies such as [[steam power]] and electric lights.<ref name="winston-salem" /> The second primary factory building was the oldest Reynolds factory still standing and was sold to [[Forsyth County, North Carolina|Forsyth County]] in 1990.<ref name="winston-salem" />

[[File:George Washington Cut Plug Tobacco.jpeg|thumb|280px|''George Washington'', early cut plug tobacco brand manufactured by Reynolds, {{Circa|1910}}]]
At the beginning of the 1900s, Reynolds bought most of the competing tobacco factories in Winston-Salem.<ref name="winston-salem" /> The company produced 25% of America's [[chewing tobacco]].<ref name="winston-salem" /> 1907's [[Prince Albert tobacco|Prince Albert smoking tobacco]] became the company's national showcase product, which led to high-profile advertising in [[New York City]]'s [[Union Square (New York City)|Union Square]].<ref name="winston-salem" /> The [[Camel (cigarette)|Camel cigarette]] became the most popular cigarette in the country. The Reynolds company imported so much [[French people|French]] [[cigarette paper]] and [[Turkish tobacco]] for Camel cigarettes that Winston-Salem was designated by the [[United States federal government]] as an official [[port of entry]] for the United States, despite the city being {{convert|200|mi|km}} inland.<ref name="winston-salem" /> Winston-Salem was the eighth-largest port of entry in the United States by 1916.<ref name="winston-salem" />

In 1917, the company bought 84 acres (34&nbsp;ha) of property in Winston-Salem and built 180 houses that it sold at cost to workers, to form a development called "Reynoldstown".<ref name="winston-salem" />

At the time Reynolds died in 1918 (of [[pancreatic cancer]]), his company owned 121 buildings in Winston-Salem.<ref name="winston-salem" /> He was so integral to company operations that executives did not hang another chief executive's [[portrait]] next to Reynolds's in the company board room until 41 years later.<ref name="winston-salem" /> Reynolds's brother [[William Neal Reynolds]] took over following Reynolds's death, and six years later [[Bowman Gray]] became the chief executive. By that time, Reynolds Co. was the top [[taxpayer]] in the state of North Carolina, paying $1 out of every $2.50 paid in [[income tax]]es in the state, and was one of the most profitable corporations in the world.<ref name="winston-salem" /> It made two-thirds of the cigarettes in the state.<ref name="winston-salem" />

[[File:RJ Reynold's Building (31350553230).jpg|thumb|170px|The [[Reynolds Building]], built in 1929 in [[Art Deco]] style, served as RJR headquarters until 2008]]
Reynolds Co.'s success during this period can also be measured by the concurrent success of many Winston-Salem companies that received large amounts of business from Reynolds: [[Wachovia]] National Bank became one of the largest banks in the Southeast, and the company's law firm [[Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice]] became the largest law firm in North Carolina.<ref name="barbarians">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8rVQ6wKWdaYC | publisher=[[HarperCollins]] | year=2003 | pages=40 | title=Barbarians at the Gate | first=Bryan | last=Burrough| isbn=9780060536350 }}</ref>

R. J. Reynolds Tobacco diversified into other areas, buying Pacific Hawaiian Products, the makers of [[Hawaiian Punch]], in 1962, [[Sea-Land Service]] in 1969, and [[Del Monte Foods]] in 1979. Sea-Land was spun off in 1984.<ref>{{cite news| url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19840222&id=PEhOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kBMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4837,6105106|title= Reynolds to spin off Sea-Land|author= Debbie Norton|newspaper= [[Star-News]] |date = February 22, 1984}}</ref>

Because of the company's diversification, the company changed its name to R. J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. in 1970. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. was a subsidiary.<ref name=Sequence>{{cite web|url=http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/RAI/774487414x5356905x279278/335b63c9-8094-4559-a378-0dd439f13e98/securities.pdf|title=A Stock History – Sequence of Events|access-date=2012-03-23}}</ref>

===RJR Nabisco===
{{Main|RJR Nabisco}}
R. J. Reynolds Industries merged with [[Nabisco|Nabisco Brands]] in 1985, and the name changed to [[RJR Nabisco]] in August 1986.<ref name=Sequence /> In 1987, a [[bidding]] war ensued between several financial firms to acquire RJR Nabisco. Finally, the [[private equity]] takeover firm [[Kohlberg Kravis Roberts|Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts & Co]] (commonly referred to as KKR) was responsible for the 1988 [[leveraged buyout]] of RJR Nabisco. This was documented in several articles in ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' by [[Bryan Burrough]] and [[John Helyar]]. These articles were later used as the basis of a bestselling book, ''[[Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco]]'',<ref>{{cite book |title=Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco |last=Burrough |first=Bryan |author-link=Bryan Burrough |author2=John Helyar |year=2003 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=New York |isbn=0-06-165554-6 |pages=592 |url=https://archive.org/details/barbariansatgate00burr_0 |url-access=registration |quote=barbarians at the gate. |access-date=27 June 2010}}</ref> and then into a [[Barbarians at the Gate (film)|television movie]]. As a result, in February 1989, RJR Nabisco paid executive [[F. Ross Johnson]] US$53,800,000 as part of a [[golden handshake]] clause, the largest such deal in history at the time,<ref>{{cite news|title=The high cost of parting ways with CEOs |work=CBC News |date=9 June 2009 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/the-high-cost-of-parting-ways-with-ceos-1.823138 |access-date=27 June 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112001838/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/06/09/f-executive-compensation-severance-packages.html |archive-date=November 12, 2010}}</ref> as severance compensation for his acceptance of the KKR takeover. He used the money to open his own investment firm, RJM Group, Inc.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sons mind moguls' money |author=Mike Billips |newspaper=Atlanta Business Chronicle |date= 24 July 1998 |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/1998/07/27/story3.html |access-date=27 June 2010}}</ref> In 1999 RJR Nabisco spun off R. J. Reynolds Tobacco, which began trading on June 15 as R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings, Inc., and a year later announced it would buy Nabisco Group Holdings Inc., the company that had been RJR Nabisco. This followed the sale of Nabisco Holdings Group to [[Philip Morris USA|Philip Morris]].<ref name="Sequence" />

===Recent history===
In 1994, then CEO James Johnston testified under oath before Congress, saying that he didn't believe that [[nicotine]] is addictive.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tobacco Chiefs Say Cigarettes Aren't Addictive|date=April 15, 1994|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/04/15/us/tobacco-chiefs-say-cigarettes-aren-t-addictive.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|first=Philip J.|last=Hilts}}</ref>
In 1998, the company was part of the [[Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement]] with 46 U.S. states, agreeing to pay smoking-related health care costs and restrict advertising in return for protection against private lawsuits.

In 1999, R. J. Reynolds was spun out of RJR Nabisco. The same year, the company sold all its non-U.S. operations to [[Japan Tobacco]], which made those operations into its international arm, [[Japan Tobacco International]] (JTI). Consequently, any [[Camel (cigarette)|Camels]], [[Winston (cigarette)|Winstons]] or [[Salem (cigarette)|Salems]] sold outside the United States are now owned by JTI.

In 2002, the company was fined $15 million for handing out free cigarettes at events attended by children, and was fined $20 million for breaking the 1998 Master Agreement, which restricted targeting youth in its tobacco advertisements.<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/sci_tech/features/health/tobaccotrial/usa.htm
| title = BBC: Tobacco companies tell kids: 'Don't smoke!'
| access-date = 2008-06-14
}}</ref>

In 2001–2011, the European Union was involved in three civil suits against R. J. Reynolds in the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York]], accusing the company of selling [[black market]] cigarettes to [[Illegal drug trade|drug traffickers]] and [[Gangster|mobsters]] from [[Italy]], [[Russia]], [[Colombia]] and the [[Balkans]]. The suits were unsuccessful.<ref>Helena Keers, "RJ Reynolds faces third EU suit" (November 1, 2002). ''Telegraph''.</ref><ref>"[http://www.jonesday.com/experiencepractices/ExperienceDetail.aspx?experienceid=14749 R.J. Reynolds wins dismissal of European Community's RICO claims]" (March 2011). [[Jones Day]].</ref><ref>Henry Weinstein and Myron Levin, "[http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2002-10-31/news/0210310081_1_money-laundering-tobacco-companies-lawsuit R.J. Reynolds Accused Of Black Market Deals] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723114306/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2002-10-31/news/0210310081_1_money-laundering-tobacco-companies-lawsuit |date=2013-07-23 }}" (October 31, 2002). ''Los Angeles Times''.</ref><ref>Tracey A. Basler, "Cigarettes, Smuggling, and Terror: The European Community v. RJ Reynolds" (2004). 4 ''JICL'' 3.</ref>

On July 30, 2004, R. J. Reynolds merged with the U.S. operations of [[British American Tobacco]] (operating under the name of [[Brown & Williamson]]). A new parent [[holding company]], [[Reynolds American]] Inc., was established as part of the transaction.

[[File:RJR Tobacco.JPG|thumb|170px|Former R. J. Reynolds Tobacco factory in Downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina, pictured in 2014. The factory was closed in 2010 and production moved to Tobaccoville, North Carolina.]]
In May 2006 former R. J. Reynolds vice-president of sales Stan Smith pleaded guilty to charges of defrauding the [[Government of Canada]] of $1.2 billion (CDN) through a cigarette [[smuggling]] operation. Smith confessed to overseeing the 1990s operation while employed by RJR. Canadian-brand cigarettes were smuggled out of and back into Canada, or smuggled from [[Puerto Rico]], and sold on the black market to avoid taxes. The judge referred to it as biggest [[fraud]] case in Canadian history.<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/senior-tobacco-exec-won-t-go-to-jail-in-massive-fraud-case-1.610190 "Senior exec won't go to jail in massive fraud case"], ''[[CBC News]]'', May 4, 2006</ref>

Since 2006, R. J. Reynolds has been the subject of a [[Farm Labor Organizing Committee]] (FLOC) campaign to reduce the exploitative nature of its tobacco procurement system. FLOC's goal is to meet with Reynolds executives, growers, and workers in [[collective bargaining]] to improve farmworkers' pay and living conditions. Although there are many layers of [[subcontractor]]s within the procurement system that seemingly absolve Reynolds of responsibility, FLOC asserts that its executives have the ability to make changes within the system due to their wealth and enormous power. Despite repeated refusals to meet from CEO Susan Ivey, FLOC continues the campaign against R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.<ref>Collins, Kristin. "Farm union targets RJR." ''News & Observer.'' October 27, 2007.</ref>

In 2010, Reynolds American announced that the company would close its manufacturing plants in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Puerto Rico. Production from these plants will be moved to the [[Tobaccoville, North Carolina]], plant.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Craver |first1=Richard |title=RJR closing plant |url=https://www.journalnow.com/business/rjr-closing-plant/article_e855bd18-e8ba-562a-8aed-7433ff5934f5.html |access-date=12 September 2018 |work=Winston-Salem Journal |date=May 29, 2010}}</ref>

On July 15, 2014, Reynolds American agreed to buy [[Lorillard Tobacco Company]] for $27.4 billion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/15/reynolds-american-to-buy-lorillard-for-27-4-billion/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0|title=To Compete With Altria, Reynolds American Is Buying Lorillard|first=Michael J. de la Merced and Chad|last=Bray|date=15 July 2014 |access-date=23 October 2016}}</ref> The deal also included the sale of the [[Kool (cigarette)|Kool]], [[Winston (cigarette)|Winston]], [[Salem (cigarette)|Salem]], and [[blu eCigs|blu]] brands to [[Imperial Brands|Imperial Tobacco]] for $7.1 billion.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2014/07/15/feeling-blu-e-cig-company-spun-off-in-major-tobacco-deal.html|title=Feeling blu? E-cig company spun off in major tobacco deal|first= Dan|last=Mangan|work=[[CNBC]]|date=July 15, 2014}}</ref>

In January 2017, Reynolds American agreed to a $49.4 billion deal to be taken over by [[British American Tobacco]].<ref name="wsj">{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/british-american-tobacco-agrees-to-pay-49-billion-to-take-full-control-of-reynolds-american-1484638031|title=British American Tobacco Agrees to Pay $49 Billion to Take Full Control of Reynolds American |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=January 17, 2017|access-date=January 17, 2017}}</ref> The deal was completed July 25, 2017.<ref name=entirely>{{cite news|url=http://www.journalnow.com/business/business_news/local/reynolds-american-now-entirely-owned-by-british-american-tobacco/article_b6769364-9c0e-504a-b322-8adedc81cdb1.html|title=Reynolds American now entirely owned by British American Tobacco |last=Craver|first=Richard|work=Winston-Salem Journal|date=July 25, 2017|access-date=July 25, 2017}}</ref>