Top Altria executive resigns
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Henrico-based Altria Group Inc. announced that its chairman and CEO Howard A. Willard III has retired after about two years in the roles and almost three decades with the company.
Altria named William F. “Billy” Gifford Jr. its new CEO. Gifford, the company’s vice chairman and chief financial officer, had been serving as interim CEO while Willard took an absence after contracting COVID-19 last month.
Dominion Energy Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Farrell II will fill Gifford’s role as board chairman for Altria. Farrell has served on Altria’s board for 12 years.
Altria is the parent company of cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris USA.
During Willard’s tenure, Altria invested heavily in vaping, notably purchasing a 35-percent ownership stake in Juul Labs for $12.8 billion 16 months ago. But the deal backfired when Juul faced backlash from the public as teen gaping skyrocketed. Altria laid off 900 employees worldwide early last year in order to help make up losses from the purchase and reduced its investment in Juul to about one-third of its original amount.
