Inside a $280 billion tobacco giant’s push to turn smokers into smoke-free customers

Philip Morris International (PMI) is attempting an ambitious reinvention, repositioning itself around smoke-free alternatives in the U.S., while still carrying the financial weight of a global cigarette business. The roughly $280 billion tobacco company, best known for the Marlboro brand, says it plans to generate more than two-thirds of its net revenue from smoke-free alternatives by 2030. It is a delicate transition. To get there, PMI must build new growth engines while preserving the revenue base that makes transformation possible at scale.

Seth Kaufman, PMI’s U.S. chief commercial officer, frames the strategy as a rare alignment between business growth and public health goals. The pitch is straightforward, he says. Millions of adults still consume nicotine, and PMI wants them to move away from cigarettes toward smoke-free alternatives. Kaufman points to the size of the opportunity. “There are 45 million legal age nicotine users in the U.S., over 30 million of whom still consume nicotine in its most harmful form.” In theory, helping those users switch allows the company to grow while advancing a harm reduction narrative.

That promise sits at the center of PMI’s public positioning, but it also exposes the tensions underneath. PMI markets itself as smoke-free in the U.S., where its portfolio focuses on alternatives rather than cigarettes. Combustible products, howeve...