On Monday, Juul Labs Inc, an e-cigarette company, and its former largest investor, Altria Group Inc (MO.N), settled claims made by the state of Minnesota that accused them of contributing to teen vaping addiction. The settlement was announced by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Juul as a trial in the case was nearing its end. This settlement is the latest in a series of payments over Juul's marketing practices but the first public settlement by Altria. Altria still faces thousands of similar lawsuits, including one by San Francisco's public school district set to trial next week. The terms of the settlement will be announced in 30 days. Minnesota's lawsuit, filed in 2019, was the first to go to trial of thousands by state governments, school districts, and individuals around the country against Juul and Altria over underage vaping.
After settling with 48 states and territories, including Minnesota, for more than $1 billion and resolving thousands of lawsuits by individuals and local government entities for $1.7 billion, Juul has settled most of its litigation, with only Florida, Michigan, Maine, and Alaska yet to reach a settlement. Minnesota, like other plaintiffs, alleged that Juul marketed its e-cigarettes in sweet flavors and promoted them on social media to appeal to underage consumers, with Altria's help in providing Juul access to its sales force and placing Juul advertisements in Marlboro products. Both companies have denied wrongdoing. In 2019, Juul pulled most of its e-cigarette flavors from the market and halted much of its advertising under pressure from regulators. Last June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration briefly banned the products, though the ban was put on hold and agreed to reconsider after the company appealed.
In exchange for some of Juul's intellectual property, Altria announced last month that it had relinquished its investment in Juul, valued at $250 million as of December, a significant decrease from its 2018 value of $12.8 billion.
