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” refer to either (i) Altria Group, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries or (ii) Altria Group, Inc. only and not its consolidated subsidiaries, as appropriate in the context.

We have a leading portfolio of tobacco products for U.S. tobacco consumers age 21+. Our Vision is to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a smoke-free future (“Vision”). We are Moving Beyond SmokingTM, 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, our businesses and society.

Our wholly owned subsidiaries include Philip Morris USA Inc. (“PM USA”), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States; 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 subsidiary U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC (“USSTC”), is engaged in the manufacture and sale of moist smokeless tobacco products (“MST”) and snus products; Helix Innovations LLC (“Helix”), which operates in the United States and Canada, and Helix Innovations GmbH and its affiliates (“Helix ROW”), which operate internationally in the rest-of-world, are engaged in the manufacture and sale of oral nicotine pouches; and NJOY, LLC (“NJOY”), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of e-vapor products. Other wholly owned subsidiaries include Altria Group Distribution Company, which provides sales and distribution services to our domestic operating companies; and Altria Client Services LLC (“ALCS”), which provides various support services to our companies in areas such as legal, regulatory, research and product development, consumer engagement, finance, human resources and external affairs.

On June 1, 2023, we completed our acquisition of NJOY Holdings, Inc. (“NJOY Holdings”), the parent of NJOY, for total consideration of approximately $2.9 billion (“NJOY Transaction”), which consisted of approximately $2.75 billion in cash payments (net of cash acquired) plus the fair value of certain contingent consideration. As a result of the acquisition, NJOY became a wholly owned subsidiary of Altria. For further details, see Note 3. Acquisition of NJOY to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this Form 10-K (“Item 8”).

In March 2023, we entered into a stock transfer agreement with JUUL Labs, Inc. (“Stock Transfer Agreement”) pursuant to which we transferred to JUUL Labs, Inc. (“JUUL”) all of our beneficially owned JUUL equity securities. In exchange, we received a non-exclusive, irrevocable global license to certain of JUUL’s heated tobacco intellectual property.

In October 2022, we entered into a joint venture with JTI (US) Holding, Inc. (“JTIUH”), a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco Inc. (“Japan Tobacco”), for the U.S. marketing and commercialization of heated tobacco stick (“HTS”) products. The joint venture entity, Horizon Innovations LLC (“Horizon”), is structured to exist in perpetuity and is responsible for the U.S. commercialization of HTS products owned by either party. PM USA holds a 75% economic interest in Horizon with JTIUH having a 25% economic interest. The parties plan to collaborate on a global smoke-free partnership. Horizon is governed by a board of managers, which is comprised of four individuals designated by PM USA and three individuals designated by JTIUH. For further information, see Other Tobacco Products below.

In October 2021, we sold International Wine & Spirits Ltd. (“IWS”), which included Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Ltd. (“Ste. Michelle”), in an all-cash transaction with a net purchase price of approximately $1.2 billion and the assumption of certain liabilities of IWS and its subsidiaries (“Ste. Michelle Transaction”).

In December 2020 and April 2021, we purchased the remaining 20% interest in (i) Helix ROW and (ii) Helix, respectively. The total purchase price of the December 2020 and April 2021 transactions was approximately $250 million.

At December 31, 2023, our reportable segments were smokeable products and oral tobacco products. Our all other category included (i) the financial results of NJOY (beginning June 1, 2023); (ii) Horizon; (iii) Helix ROW; and (iv) the IQOS System (as defined below) heated tobacco business due to the relative financial contribution of these businesses to our consolidated results. Prior to the Ste. Michelle Transaction, wine produced and/or sold by Ste. Michelle was a reportable segment. For further information, see Note 16. Segment Reporting to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8. (“Note 16”).

Our investments include Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (“ABI”) and Cronos Group Inc. (“Cronos”), which we account for under the equity method of accounting using a one-quarter lag.

For further discussion of our investments, see Note 7. Investments in Equity Securities to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 (“Note 7”).

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”).

Our operating companies include PM USA, USSTC, Middleton, Helix and NJOY.

The products of our operating companies include: (i) smokeable tobacco products, consisting of combustible cigarettes manufactured and sold by PM USA and machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco manufactured and sold by Middleton; (ii) oral tobacco products, consisting of MST and snus products manufactured and sold by USSTC and oral nicotine pouches manufactured and sold by Helix; and (iii) e-vapor products contract manufactured by third-parties and sold by NJOY.

**▪**Cigarettes: PM USA is the largest cigarette company in the United States and substantially all cigarettes are manufactured and sold to customers 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 76.3 billion units in 2023, a decrease of 9.9% from 2022.

**▪**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 substantially all 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 2023, an increase of 2.8% from 2022.

**▪**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 a value brand, Red Seal, 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 782.9 million units in 2023, a decrease of 2.2% from 2022.

**▪**E-Vapor products: NJOY contracts with third-party importers to supply all of its products and sells its e-vapor products to customers in the United States. NJOY ACE is the principal e-vapor product of NJOY. NJOY is currently the only e-vapor manufacturer to receive market authorizations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for a pod-based e-vapor product.

**▪**Other tobacco products: In connection with the joint venture agreement with JTIUH, Horizon will market and commercialize HTS products, which are defined in the joint venture agreement as products that include both (i) a tobacco heating device intended to heat the consumable without combusting and (ii) a consumable that meets the definition of a cigarette under the U.S. Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act. Horizon is responsible for the U.S. commercialization of current and future HTS products owned by either party and, upon authorization by the FDA of a pre-market tobacco application (“PMTA”), will become the exclusive entity through which the parties market and commercialize HTS products in the United States. Upon PMTA authorization of Ploom HTS products, JTIUH will supply Ploom HTS devices and PM USA will manufacture Marlboro HTS consumables for U.S. commercialization.

In October 2022, we agreed to assign to Philip Morris International Inc. (“PMI”) exclusive U.S. commercialization rights to the IQOS Tobacco Heating System (“IQOS System”) effective April 30, 2024. For further discussion of the agreement with PMI see Note 6. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, net to our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 (“Note 6”).

**▪**Distribution, Competition and Raw Materials: Our 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.

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 standards.

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

Helix, through an affiliate, and NJOY purchase tobacco-derived nicotine materials from suppliers and believe their suppliers can satisfy current and anticipated future production requirements.

Our 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 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 Operating Results by Business Segment - Business Environment in Item 7.

Other Matters

**▪**Customers: For a discussion of our largest customers, including their percentages of our consolidated net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, see Note 16.

**▪**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, 2024 of this Form 10-K.

**▪**Human Capital Resources: We believe our workforce is critical to achieving our Vision. Attracting, developing, retaining and deploying the best talent with the skills to make significant progress toward 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, retaining and deploying 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 and benefits design and implementation, performance management, career management and succession planning and professional and learning development. Our inclusion, diversity and equity (“ID&E”) programs are managed by our Corporate Citizenship department. Our Board of Directors (“Board of Directors” or “Board”) and the Compensation and Talent Development Committee provide oversight of human capital matters, including reviewing initiatives and programs related to corporate culture and enterprise-wide talent development, including our ID&E initiatives.

Inclusion, Diversity and Equity

We recognize the critical importance of ID&E 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 Inclusion & Diversity Aiming Points to help guide our efforts:

▪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 leadership teams that reflect the organizations they lead.

We maintain our commitment to building an inclusive organization and workforce that reflects the diversity of the labor market from which we hire. Our data-driven efforts focus on removing barriers to equal opportunity in compliance with applicable law. We strive for an organization that is more reflective of the diversity of the labor market from which we hire, and we remain committed to ID&E.

We monitor our ID&E progress through inclusive leadership ratings and other measures and report our ID&E progress annually through our corporate responsibility reporting.

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 with skills necessary for us to achieve our Vision. We work to manage this risk by, among other things, targeting total compensation packages to be above peer companies with 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. We design our compensation program to deliver total compensation at levels between the 50th and 75th percentiles of compensation paid to employees in comparable positions at our peer companies. Actual total compensation can exceed the 75th percentile or be below the 50th percentile depending on business and individual performance.

We are committed to pay equity across our companies. Based on the most recent annual analysis we conducted in November 2023, for employees performing the same or similar duties regardless of any differentiating factors, such as performance and tenure, salaries of our female employees were 97.8% of those of our male employees, and salaries of our employees of color were 98.1% of those of our white employees. If we adjust for differentiating factors that legitimately influence pay, salaries of our female employees were 99.6% of those of our male employees, and salaries of our employees of color were 99.9% of those of our white employees.

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, disability and life insurance. We also offer up to 12 weeks paid family leave to bond with a newborn child, the placement of a child for adoption or foster care, or to care for a family member who has a serious health condition. Our benefits also include physical, emotional and financial wellness programs and family creation assistance benefits, such as reimbursement of surrogacy, adoption assistance and fertility expenses. 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 a tuition refund program for job-related courses or company-related degrees. We also provide eligible employees with a company-funded contribution applied to the employee’s qualified higher education student loans to help reduce student loan debt.

Attracting, Developing, Retaining and Deploying 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 skills and/or 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, in-person, virtual and self-guided training programs, technical training, including training to maintain professional certifications, and our educational refund program for continuing education.

We also have an employee recognition program that allows leaders and employees to reward and recognize colleagues for their outstanding performance and everyday excellence.

We regularly conduct confidential employee engagement surveys to seek feedback on a variety of topics, including employee satisfaction, support from leadership, corporate culture and culture of compliance. In addition, in 2023, these quarterly employee surveys sought feedback on topics such as workplace flexibility, workload, inclusion, development opportunities, management support, compliance and understanding of business strategy. 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 goal is for every Altria employee to experience an injury-free career, which is supported by our Safety Management System (“SMS”). We strive for continuous improvement in our employee safety program through SMS infrastructure. Our Occupational Safety and Health Administration recordable injury rate for 2023 was 1.2% (versus 1.3% for 2022) and remains below the benchmark for companies in the U.S. Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing industry classification.

Number of Employees and Labor Relations

At December 31, 2023, we employed approximately 6,400 people. Twenty-seven percent of our employees were hourly manufacturing employees who are 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 our trust-based relationship with the unions.

Supply Chain Human Capital Matters

We support efforts to address human capital concerns in the tobacco supply chain. For example, in our domestic tobacco supply chain, in 2023, all of our domestic tobacco growers participated in the Good Agricultural Practices Certification Program to assess growers’ compliance with practices related to labor management and all of our tobacco suppliers participated in the tobacco industry’s Sustainable Tobacco Program, which includes standards related to human and labor rights. Our tobacco companies also establish contract terms and conditions with tobacco growers and leaf suppliers addressing child and forced labor and conduct social compliance audits at leaf supplier facilities in high-risk tobacco growing regions within the United States and internationally. In addition, all suppliers of goods and services that maintain operations in high-risk countries are subject to social compliance audits of those operations.

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

**▪**Intellectual Property: Trademarks are of material importance to us and are protected by registration or otherwise. In addition, as of December 31, 2023, the portfolio of United States patents owned by our businesses, as a whole, was material to us and our businesses. However, no one patent or group of related patents was material to our businesses as of December 31, 2023. Our 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 us and our businesses.

**▪**Government Regulations: We are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations. For example, 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. For further discussion of laws and regulations impacting our operating companies, see Operating Results by Business Segment - Business Environment in Item 7.

We and our 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. Our subsidiaries (and former subsidiaries) are involved in several matters subjecting them to potential costs of remediation and natural resource damages under Superfund or other laws and regulations. Our 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 our consolidated financial statements in Item 8 (“Note 2”), we provide 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 our subsidiaries 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 related expenditures, has not had, and is not expected to have, a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, capital expenditures, financial position or cash flows.

Available Information

We are required to file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The SEC maintains an Internet website at www.sec.gov that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers from which investors can electronically access our SEC filings.

We make available free of charge on or through our website (www.altria.com) our 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 (“Exchange Act”), as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Investors can access our filings with the SEC by visiting www.altria.com/secfilings.

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