R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

By: Alternix

History and Acquisitions

R. J. Reynolds sold his shares of his father's tobacco company and started his own tobacco company in Winston-Salem.
The company's factory buildings were the largest in Winston-Salem, equipped with new technologies.
Reynolds bought most of the competing tobacco factories in Winston-Salem.
The company produced 25% of America's chewing tobacco.
Winston-Salem became an official port of entry for the United States due to the importation of materials for Camel cigarettes.
RJR Nabisco was acquired through a leveraged buyout by Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts & Co in 1988.
RJR Nabisco paid a record-breaking severance compensation to executive F. Ross Johnson.
RJR Nabisco spun off R.J. Reynolds Tobacco in 1999.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings later acquired Nabisco Group Holdings Inc.
R.J. Reynolds merged with the U.S. operations of British American Tobacco in 2004.
Reynolds American agreed to buy Lorillard Tobacco Company for $27.4 billion in 2014.
RJR is a major tobacco company.
RJR was acquired by British American Tobacco in 2017.
RJR has been involved in major tobacco deals.

R.J. Reynolds sponsored the NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series, NASCAR Winston Cup Series, and IMSA Camel GT for sportscars.
The NHRA sponsorship ended in 2001 due to a new governing rule, and R.J. Reynolds chose NASCAR as their sole sponsorship.
Camel sponsored the Lotus Formula One team from 1987 to 1990.
RJR brands Winston and Camel were sponsors of the 1982 and 1986 FIFA World Cups, respectively.
R.J. Reynolds opened the Marshall McGearty Lounge in Chicago in 2005 as part of a marketing strategy to promote a brand of cigarettes.
RJR has used brand logos to target children.
RJR's marketing strategies have faced criticism.

CEO James Johnston testified that he didn't believe nicotine is addictive in 1994.
R.J. Reynolds was part of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement in 1998.
R.J. Reynolds was fined for distributing free cigarettes to children in 2002.
The European Union filed unsuccessful civil suits against R.J. Reynolds for selling black market cigarettes.
Former R.J. Reynolds vice-president Stan Smith pleaded guilty to defrauding the Government of Canada in 2006.
R.J. Reynolds faced a campaign by the Farm Labor Organizing Committee to improve farmworkers' conditions.
In 2011, R.J. Reynolds was found guilty and ordered to pay $1 million in a lawsuit filed by a smoker who developed cancer and lung disease.
In 2020, Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap ruled that Reynolds remained liable for an $8 billion settlement payment to the State of Texas.

Building No. 12 was bought by Forsyth County in 1990 after manufacturing ended there.
Building 60 was built in 1923 and later renovated.
Buildings 90-3 and 90-1A at 635 Vine were built in the early 1960s and later renovated.
Building 91, a machine shop built in 1937, was later renovated and became part of the research park.
Bailey Power Plant, built in 1947, included Buildings 23-1, 23-2, and the Morris Building.
The three-story leaf buildings, 2-1 building, and 2-2 building were located on Reynolds Boulevard.
These buildings were named to the National Register of Historic Places in October 2017.
C.A. Harrison Cos. LLC announced the renovation of these buildings for loft apartments in October 2019.
The Whitaker Park plant, built in 1961, was considered the world's largest and most modern cigarette-manufacturing plant.
Manufacturing at Whitaker Park ceased in May 2010, and the plant was donated to Whitaker Park Development Authority Inc.
The RJR Plaza Building, completed in 1982, is the current headquarters of R.J. Reynolds.
The original 1929 Reynolds Building stood vacant until it was converted into a hotel in 2014.
RJR has moved its headquarters multiple times.
RJR's former tobacco buildings have been repurposed.
RJR has sold and moved out of historic buildings.

RJR produces various tobacco products.
By 1953, RJ Reynolds believed internally that cigarettes caused cancer.
In 1953, a research chemist released a confidential document confirming the link between tobacco and lung cancer.
The document also mentioned findings of animal studies indicating the presence of carcinogens.
RJR is estimated to manufacture one in three cigarettes sold in the United States.

Reference	URL
Glossary	https://www.alternix.com/blogs/glossary-of-terms/r-j-reynolds-tobacco-company
Wikipedia	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._J._Reynolds_Tobacco_Company
Wikidata	https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1759032
Knowledge Graph	https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/m/01207m