American Tobacco Company
American firm (1890–1994) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Company type | Private (1890–1969) Subsidiary (1969–94) |
---|---|
Industry | Tobacco farming and manufacturing |
Founded | January 31, 1890; 134 years ago (1890-01-31) in Durham, North Carolina |
Founder | James B. Duke |
Defunct | December 22, 1994; 29 years ago (1994-12-22) |
Fate | Restructuring and sale to American Brands, Inc. |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Products | Cigarettes and related tobacco products |
Brands | Fatima Mecca |
Parent | American Brands, Inc. (1969) |
Subsidiaries | Lucky Strike (1905–76) |
The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company. The company was one of the original 12 members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 1896. The American Tobacco Company dominated the industry by acquiring the Lucky Strike Company and over 200 other rival firms. Federal Antitrust action begun in 1907 broke the company into several major companies in 1911.[1][2]
The American Tobacco Company restructured itself in 1969, forming a holding company called American Brands, Inc., which operated American Tobacco as a subsidiary. American Brands acquired a variety of non-tobacco businesses during the 1970s and 1980s and sold its tobacco operations to Brown & Williamson in 1994. American Brands subsequently renamed itself "Fortune Brands".