Item 1. Business.

General Development of Business

When used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Form 10-K”), the terms “Altria,” “we,” “us” and “our” refers to Altria Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, unless the context requires otherwise.

Altria’s 10-Year Vision is to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a non-combustible future (“Vision”). Altria is Moving Beyond Smoking, leading the way in moving adult smokers away from cigarettes by taking action to transition millions to potentially less harmful choices - believing it is a substantial opportunity for adult tobacco consumers, Altria’s businesses and society.

At December 31, 2020, Altria’s wholly owned subsidiaries included Philip Morris USA Inc. (“PM USA”), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States (including super premium cigarettes previously manufactured and sold by Sherman Group Holdings, LLC and its subsidiaries (“Nat Sherman”)); John Middleton Co. (“Middleton”), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco and is a wholly owned subsidiary of PM USA; UST LLC (“UST”), which through its wholly owned subsidiaries, including U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC (“USSTC”) and Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Ltd. (“Ste. Michelle”), is engaged in the manufacture and sale of moist smokeless tobacco products (“MST”), snus products and wine; and Philip Morris Capital Corporation (“PMCC”), which maintains a portfolio of finance assets, substantially all of which are leveraged leases. In addition, at December 31, 2020, Altria owned an 80% interest in Helix Innovations LLC (“Helix”), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of oral nicotine pouches. Other Altria wholly owned subsidiaries included Altria Group Distribution Company, which provides sales and distribution services to certain Altria operating subsidiaries, and Altria Client Services LLC (“ALCS”), which provides various support services in areas such as legal, regulatory, consumer engagement, finance, human resources and external affairs to Altria and its subsidiaries.

In 2019, Helix acquired Burger Söhne Holding and its subsidiaries as well as certain affiliated companies (the “Burger Group”) that are engaged in the manufacture and sale of on! oral nicotine pouches. At closing, Altria owned an 80% interest in Helix, for which Altria paid $353 million in 2019.

In the first quarter of 2020, Altria renamed its smokeless products segment as the oral tobacco products segment. Altria’s reportable segments are smokeable products, oral tobacco products and wine. The financial services and the innovative tobacco products businesses are included in an all other category due to the continued reduction of the lease portfolio of PMCC and the relative financial contribution of Altria’s innovative tobacco products businesses to Altria’s consolidated results. For further information, see Note 15. Segment Reporting to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this Form 10-K (“Item 8”).

At December 31, 2020, Altria’s investments in equity securities consisted of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (“ABI”), Cronos Group Inc. (“Cronos”) and JUUL Labs, Inc. (“JUUL”). Altria accounts for its investments in ABI and Cronos under the equity method of accounting using a one-quarter lag. Altria accounts for its equity investment in JUUL under the fair value option.

At December 31, 2020, Altria had a 10.0% ownership interest in ABI.

In December 2018, Altria made an investment in JUUL by purchasing shares of non-voting convertible common stock of JUUL representing a 35% ownership interest. JUUL is engaged in the manufacture and sale of e-vapor products in the U.S. and certain international markets. In November 2020, Altria exercised its rights to convert its non-voting shares to voting shares (“Share Conversion”). Altria does not currently intend to exercise its additional governance rights obtained upon Share Conversion, including the right to elect directors to JUUL’s board, or to vote its JUUL shares other than as a passive investor, pending the outcome of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) administrative complaint. At December 31, 2020, Altria had a 35% ownership interest in JUUL.

In March 2019, Altria acquired a 45% ownership interest in Cronos, a global cannabinoid company headquartered in Toronto, Canada. At December 31, 2020, Altria had a 43.5% ownership interest in Cronos.

For further discussion of Altria’s investments in equity securities, see Note 6. Investments in Equity Securities to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 (“Note 6”).

Description of Business

Portions of the information relating to this Item are included in Operating Results by Business Segment in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of this Form 10-K (“Item 7”).

Tobacco Space

Altria’s tobacco operating companies include PM USA, USSTC and other subsidiaries of UST, Middleton and Helix. Altria Group Distribution Company provides sales and distribution services to Altria’s tobacco operating companies.

The products of Altria’s tobacco subsidiaries include (i) smokeable tobacco products, consisting of combustible cigarettes manufactured and sold by PM USA (including super premium cigarettes previously manufactured and sold by Nat Sherman) and machine-made large

cigars and pipe tobacco manufactured and sold by Middleton; and (ii) oral tobacco products, consisting of MST and snus products manufactured and sold by USSTC and oral nicotine pouches manufactured and sold by Helix.

*▪*Cigarettes: PM USA is the largest cigarette company in the United States. Marlboro, the principal cigarette brand of PM USA, has been the largest-selling cigarette brand in the United States for over 45 years. Total smokeable products segment’s cigarettes shipment volume in the United States was 101.4 billion units in 2020, a decrease of 0.4% from 2019.

*▪*Cigars: Middleton is engaged in the manufacture and sale of machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco. Middleton contracts with a third-party importer to supply a majority of its cigars and sells substantially all of its cigars to customers in the United States. Black & Mild is the principal cigar brand of Middleton. Total smokeable products segment’s cigars shipment volume was approximately 1.8 billion units in 2020, an increase of 9.0% from 2019.

*▪*Oral tobacco products: USSTC is the leading producer and marketer of MST products. The oral tobacco products segment includes the premium brands, Copenhagen and Skoal, and value brands, Red Seal and Husky, sold by USSTC. In addition, the oral tobacco products segment includes on! oral nicotine pouches sold by Helix. Substantially all of the oral tobacco products are manufactured and sold to customers in the United States. Total oral tobacco products segment’s shipment volume was 819.6 million units in 2020, an increase of 1.2% from 2019, primarily driven by on!. The oral tobacco products category volume increased in 2020 driven primarily by growth in oral nicotine pouches.

▪Innovative tobacco products: In December 2013, Altria’s subsidiaries entered into a series of agreements with Philip Morris International Inc. (“PMI”), including an agreement that grants Altria an exclusive right to commercialize certain of PMI’s heated tobacco products in the United States, subject to the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) authorization of the applicable products. PMI submitted a pre-market tobacco product application (“PMTA”) and modified risk tobacco product application with the FDA for its electronically heated tobacco products, comprising the IQOS Tobacco Heating System. In April 2019, the FDA authorized the PMTA for the IQOS Tobacco Heating System and in July 2020, the FDA authorized the marketing of this system as a modified risk tobacco product with a reduced exposure claim. In December 2020, the FDA authorized the PMTA for a new generation of the IQOS Tobacco Heating System, IQOS 3*.* The modified risk tobacco product application for the original IQOS Tobacco Heating System does not apply to IQOS 3. Future generations of the IQOS Tobacco Heating System will require separate PMTA and modified risk tobacco production application authorization from the FDA.

▪Distribution, Competition and Raw Materials: Altria’s tobacco subsidiaries sell their tobacco products principally to wholesalers (including distributors) and large retail organizations, including chain stores.

The market for tobacco products is highly competitive, characterized by brand recognition and loyalty, with product quality, taste, price, product innovation, marketing, packaging and distribution constituting the significant methods of competition. Promotional activities include, in certain instances and where permitted by law, allowances, the distribution of incentive items, price promotions, product promotions, coupons and other discounts.

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (“FSPTCA”) provides the FDA with broad authority to regulate the design, manufacture, packaging, advertising, promotion, sale and distribution of tobacco products; the authority to require disclosures of related information; and the authority to enforce the FSPTCA and related regulations.

In the United States, under a contract growing program, PM USA purchases the majority of its burley and flue-cured leaf tobaccos directly from domestic tobacco growers. Under the terms of this program, PM USA agrees to purchase the amount of tobacco specified in the grower contracts that meets PM USA’s grade and quality standards. PM USA also purchases a portion of its tobacco requirements through leaf merchants.

USSTC purchases dark fire-cured, dark air-cured and burley leaf tobaccos from domestic tobacco growers under a contract growing program. Under the terms of this program, USSTC agrees to purchase the amount of tobacco specified in the grower contracts that meets USSTC’s grade and quality standard.

Middleton purchases burley, dark air-cured and flue-cured leaf tobaccos through leaf merchants. Middleton does not have a contract growing program.

Altria’s tobacco subsidiaries believe there is an adequate supply of tobacco in the world markets to satisfy their current and anticipated production requirements.

For further discussion of the foregoing matters, the tobacco business environment, trends in market demand and competitive conditions, and related risks, see Item 1A. Risk Factors of this Form 10-K (“Item 1A”) and Tobacco Space - Business Environment in Item 7.

Wine

Ste. Michelle is a producer and supplier of premium varietal and blended table wines and of sparkling wines. Ste. Michelle is a leading producer of Washington state wines, primarily Chateau Ste. Michelle and 14 Hands, and owns wineries in or distributes wines from several other domestic and foreign wine regions. Ste. Michelle’s total 2020 wine shipment volume of approximately 7.3 million cases decreased 12.0% from 2019.

Ste. Michelle holds an 85% ownership interest in Michelle-Antinori, LLC, which owns Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in Napa Valley. Ste. Michelle also owns Conn Creek in Napa Valley, Patz & Hall in Sonoma and Erath in Oregon. In addition, Ste. Michelle imports and markets Antinori wine and Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte products in the United States.

*▪*Distribution, Competition and Raw Materials: Key elements of Ste. Michelle’s strategy are expanded domestic distribution of its wines, especially in certain retail channels categories such as restaurants, wholesale clubs, supermarkets, wine shops and mass merchandisers, and a focus on improving product mix to higher-priced, premium products.

Ste. Michelle uses grapes harvested from its own vineyards or purchased from independent growers, as well as bulk wine purchased from other sources. At the present time, Ste. Michelle believes there is a sufficient supply of grapes and bulk wine available in the market to satisfy its current and expected production requirements.

For further discussion of the foregoing matters, the wine business environment, trends in market demand and competitive conditions, and related risks, see Item 1A and Wine Segment - Business Environment in Item 7.

Financial Services Business

In 2003, PMCC ceased making new investments and began focusing exclusively on managing its portfolio of finance assets in order to maximize its operating results and cash flows from its existing lease portfolio activities and asset sales. Altria expects to complete the wind-down of this business by the end of 2022.

Other Matters

▪Customers: For a discussion of PM USA, USSTC, Helix and Middleton’s largest customers, including their percentages of Altria’s consolidated net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018, see Note 15. Segment Reporting to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 (“Note 15”).

*▪*Executive Officers of Altria: The disclosure regarding executive officers is included in Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance - Information about Our Executive Officers as of February 15, 2021 of this Form 10-K.

▪Human Capital Resources: We believe our workforce is critical to achieving our Vision. Attracting, developing and retaining the best talent with the skills to make significant progress against our Vision is a key business priority. Moreover, we recognize the importance of doing business the right way. We believe culture influences employee actions and decision-making. This is why we dedicate resources to promoting a vibrant, inclusive workplace; attracting, developing and retaining talented, diverse employees; promoting a culture of compliance and integrity; creating a safe workplace; and rewarding and recognizing employees for both the results they deliver and, importantly, how they deliver them.

Oversight and Management

Our Human Resources department is responsible for managing employment-related matters, including recruiting and hiring, onboarding, compensation design and implementation, performance management, advancement and succession planning and professional and learning development. Our inclusion and diversity (“I&D”) programs are managed by our Corporate Citizenship department. Our Board of Directors (“Board of Directors” or “Board”) and two of our Board’s committees provide oversight of human capital matters. The Compensation and Talent Development Committee reviews initiatives and programs related to corporate culture and enterprise-wide talent development, including our I&D initiatives. The Nominating, Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility Committee reviews our social responsibility initiatives and goals, which include our efforts to work with diverse, high-quality suppliers and to address societal issues within our companies’ supply chains.

Inclusion and Diversity

We recognize the critical importance of I&D in pursuing our Vision and believe in the value of a workforce composed of a broad spectrum of backgrounds and cultures. In 2020, we established the following aspirational I&D aiming points to help guide our efforts over the next 10 years:

▪Be an inclusive place to work for all employees, regardless of level, demographic group or work function.

▪Have equal numbers of men and women among our vice president and director-level employees.

▪Increase our vice president and director-level employees who are Asian, Black, Hispanic or two or more races to at least 30%.

▪Increase our vice president and director-level employees who are LGBTQ+, a person with a disability or a veteran.

▪Have diverse functional leadership teams that reflect the organizations they lead.

We also believe in the importance of diverse suppliers throughout our companies’ supply chains, including minority, women, veteran and LGBTQ+-owned businesses.

Compensation and Benefits

Our compensation and benefits programs are designed to help us attract, retain and motivate strong talent. However, we recognize that the decreasing social acceptance of tobacco usage may impact our ability to attract and retain talent. We work to manage this risk by, among other things, targeting total compensation packages to be above peer companies for which we compete for talent. Depending on

employee level, total compensation includes different elements – base salary, annual cash incentives, long-term equity and cash incentives and benefits. Our goal is to provide total compensation packages between the 50th and 75th percentiles of total compensation packages paid to employees in comparable positions at our peer companies upon attainment of business and individual goals.

We are committed to pay equity across our companies. Based on the most recent annual analysis we conducted in November 2020, for employees performing the same or similar duties, salaries of our female employees were 98.2% of those of our male employees, and salaries of our non-white employees were 98.5% of those of our white employees. After adjusting for factors generally considered to be legitimate differentiators of salary, such as performance and tenure, the percentages increased to 99.4% and 99.6%, respectively.

In addition to cash and equity compensation, we offer generous employee benefits such as significant company contributions to deferred profit sharing plans, consumer-driven health plan coverage, vacation and holiday pay, up to 12 weeks paid parental and family leave for birth, adoption and foster placement, and disability and life insurance. Our benefits also include wellness benefits and family creation assistance benefits, such as adoption assistance and coverage for fertility treatments. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, for 2020 and 2021, we expanded dependent care coverage to include $5,000 employee reimbursement for remote learning and other dependent care costs. While there is some variability in employee benefits across our companies, the examples we provide are available to most employees.

We are also committed to investing in the educational development of our workforce through an unlimited tuition refund program for job-related courses or company-related degrees.

Attracting, Developing and Retaining Talent

Our salaried entry-level recruitment efforts focus on recruiting relationships with universities, internship opportunities and partnerships with organizations that support diverse students. We complement these recruiting efforts with hiring experienced employees with demonstrated leadership capabilities.

To help our employees succeed in their roles and develop in their careers, we emphasize ongoing training and leadership development opportunities. Building skills that drive innovation and aligning our employees to our Vision is important for our long-term success. The Human Resources department leads our learning and development efforts partnering with learning professionals embedded in functions throughout our operating and services companies. Employees have access to a wide variety of development programs, including new employee onboarding, classroom and self-guided training programs, technical training and our educational refund program for continuing education.

We regularly conduct anonymous employee engagement surveys to seek feedback on a variety of topics, including employee satisfaction, confidence in company leadership, corporate culture and culture of compliance. In addition, in 2020, we conducted employee surveys to gauge employee well-being in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and altered work environments, including working from home. Survey results, including comparisons to prior results, are shared with our employees and our Board and are used to modify or enhance our human capital management programs.

Workplace Safety

Our safety goal is for all employees to have an injury-free career. We regularly update our policies, procedures and equipment as new developments occur in safety and health standards and communicate safety messages and provide safety training as appropriate throughout our companies. Our most recent OSHA recordable injury rate of 1.9% from 2019 is lower than the benchmark for companies in the U.S. Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing industry classification.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we rapidly implemented safety measures to help protect our employees, including remote work for non-manufacturing salaried employees and, at our manufacturing locations, social distancing protocols, daily temperature checks and additional cleaning and sanitation practices.

Number of Employees and Labor Relations

At December 31, 2020, we employed approximately 7,100 people. Twenty-seven percent of those employees were hourly manufacturing employees and members of labor unions subject to collective bargaining agreements. We believe we engage and collaborate effectively with our hourly employees, as demonstrated by the positive working relationship between our companies and the unions. We also have long-term agreements that resolve any collective bargaining dispute through binding arbitration, which further demonstrates the trust-based relationship with the unions.

Supply Chain Human Capital Matters

In addition to supplier diversity efforts referenced above, we support efforts to address human capital concerns in the tobacco supply chain. For example, in our domestic tobacco supply chain, we use on-farm good agricultural practices assessments to assess growers’ compliance with practices related to labor management. Our tobacco companies also establish contract terms and conditions with tobacco growers addressing child and forced labor and conduct social compliance audits in high-risk tobacco growing regions.

More information about efforts discussed in this section can be found in our Corporate Responsibility Progress Report at www.altria.com/responsibility.

▪Intellectual Property: Trademarks are of material importance to Altria and its operating companies, and are protected by registration or otherwise. In addition, as of December 31, 2020, the portfolio of United States patents owned by Altria’s businesses, as a whole, was material to Altria and its tobacco businesses. However, no one patent or group of related patents was material to Altria’s business or its tobacco businesses as of December 31, 2020. Altria’s businesses also have proprietary trade secrets, technology, know-how, processes and other intellectual property rights that are protected by appropriate confidentiality measures. Certain trade secrets are material to Altria and its tobacco and wine businesses.

▪Government Regulations: Altria and its subsidiaries are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations. For discussion of laws and regulations impacting Altria’s tobacco operating companies, see Tobacco Space - Business Environment in Item 7. For discussion of laws and regulations impacting the wine segment, see Wine Segment - Business Environment in Item 7.

Altria and its subsidiaries (and former subsidiaries) are also subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations concerning the discharge of materials into the environment, or otherwise related to environmental protection, including, in the United States: The Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (commonly known as “Superfund”), which can impose joint and several liability on each responsible party. Subsidiaries (and former subsidiaries) of Altria are involved in several matters subjecting them to potential costs of remediation and natural resource damages under Superfund or other laws and regulations. Altria’s subsidiaries expect to continue to make capital and other expenditures in connection with environmental laws and regulations. As discussed in Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies to the consolidated financial statements in Item 8 (“Note 2”), Altria provides for expenses associated with environmental remediation obligations on an undiscounted basis when such amounts are probable and can be reasonably estimated. Such accruals are adjusted as new information develops or circumstances change. Other than those amounts, it is not possible to reasonably estimate the cost of any environmental remediation and compliance efforts that subsidiaries of Altria may undertake in the future. In the opinion of management, however, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, including the payment of any remediation costs or damages and the making of related expenditures, has not had, and is not expected to have, a material adverse effect on Altria’s consolidated results of operations, capital expenditures, financial position or cash flows.

Available Information

Altria is required to file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Altria makes available free of charge on or through its website (www.altria.com) its Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), as soon as reasonably practicable after Altria electronically files such material with, or furnishes it to, the SEC. Investors can access Altria’s filings with the SEC by visiting www.altria.com/secfilings.

The information on the respective websites of Altria and its subsidiaries is not, and shall not be deemed to be, a part of this Form 10-K or incorporated into any other filings Altria makes with the SEC.