Category: People

Therese Esperdy will succeed Mark Williamson as chairman of Imperial Brands effective Jan. 1, 2020.

Williamson will be stepping down as chairman in anticipation of new U.K. corporate governance code requirements regarding a chairman’s tenure on a board.

Esperdy is currently senior independent director and has a background in investment banking. She began her banking career at Lehman Brothers and retired from JP Morgan in 2015.

Esperdy joined the Imperial Brands board in July 2016 and was appointed senior independent nonexecutive director in May 2019. She is also a nonexecutive director and chairman of the finance committee of National Grid and a nonexecutive director of Moody’s Corp.

“Therese has made a significant contribution to Imperial since she became a nonexecutive director in 2016, and the board is delighted that she has agreed to succeed Mark as chairman,” Imperial Brands said in a statement.

“Her international executive experience and the acute understanding she has of the business, the sector we operate in and the concerns of investors, many of whom were consulted during the recruitment process, is invaluable. Today’s announcement provides stability through the chief executive officer recruitment process, which is a key priority for Therese.”

In early October, Imperial Brands announced Alison Cooper would step down as CEO once a suitable successor is found.

British American Tobacco (BAT) will lay off about 20 percent of its workforce in Malaysia, reports The Edge Markets. The company employs about 500 people in Malaysia.

Earlier, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) announcement that it was laying off more than one-third of its 450-strong workforce in the country.

In 2017, both BAT and JTI closed down their manufacturing plants in Malaysia, which affected about 500 workers.

BAT Malaysia Managing Director Erik Stoel attributed the layoffs to challenging external market forces, including stubbornly high levels of illicit cigarette trade and tax-led price increases along with a rapidly growing market for illegal vapor products.

“With the reorganization, the company will be able to optimize its way of working,” said Stoel. “This will ensure that the company is better placed to meet ever-evolving consumer needs and deliver savings that can be reinvested into accelerating growth into the new categories.”

U.S. President Donald Trump plans to nominate Stephen Hahn, chief medical executive of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, to lead the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Hahn is a radiation oncologist specializing in treating lung cancer and sarcoma. From 1996-2014, Hahn was at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was Henry K. Pancoast professor and chair of the department of radiation oncology. Hahn was a senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) from 1989-1996.

Hahn received his medical degree from Temple University in 1984 and his Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from Rice University in 1980.

If confirmed, Hahn would succeed former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who stepped down from the post earlier this year. Acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless will return to his role at NCI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced on Friday.

Juul Labs has named a new chief financial officer and eliminated the position of chief marketing officer amid a management shakeup, reports CNBC.

Several top executives have left the company, including Chief Administrative Officer Ashley Gould and Chief Financial Officer Tim Danaher, two veteran employees at the start-up. Newcomers Craig Brommers, chief marketing officer, and David Foster, senior vice president of advanced technologies, have also left.

Juul appointed as its new CFO Guy Cartwright, who joined the company in July as an executive transformation and operations officer.

Co-founders James Monsees and Adam Bowen, who formerly held the positions of chief product officer and chief technology officer, respectively, will join a newly formed founders office, where they will advise CEO K.C. Crosthwaite.

The changes come as Juul prepares to cut about 500 jobs, or about 10 percent to 15 percent of its 4,100-strong headcount, by the end of the year.

“As the vapor category undergoes a necessary reset, this reorganization will help Juul Labs focus on reducing underage use, investing in scientific research, and creating new technologies while earning a license to operate in the U.S. and around the world,” said Altria Group veteran Crosthwaite, who became CEO at Juul Labs in September.

The tobacco giant invested $12.8 billion in Juul in December.

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) employees protested outside the company’s Geneva headquarters on Tuesday against scheduled job cuts, reports Swissinfo.

Last month, the company announced a restructuring plan involving the elimination of 268 jobs in Geneva—about a quarter of its workforce in the city. Some positions may be relocated to East Asia and Eastern Europe, JTI said.

Eighty staff members gathered outside the glass headquarters building in Geneva’s international district to express their concern about a proposed resettlement package and what they described as lack of transparency about the cuts and plans.

JTI employs 45,000 people worldwide and has been based in Geneva since 2015.

The multinational will concentrate its resources in Warsaw, St. Petersburg and Manila. Worldwide cuts are expected to affect 3,720 employees, or 6 percent of the JTI workforce. The company says it headquarters will remain in Geneva.

Juul Labs has hired tobacco industry veteran Joe Murillo as its chief regulatory officer. Previously, Murillo was head of regulatory affairs at Altria Group, which owns a 35 percent stake in Juul Labs.

Murillo formerly led Altria’s Nu Mark vapor product subsidiary and developed the company’s regulatory strategies for IQOS, which recently launched in the United States.

In his new role, Murillo will help guide the applications that Juul Labs must submit by May to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for any products it wants to keep on the market after that time.

Wells Fargo analyst Bonnie Herzog applauded the appointment. “We believe Murillo’s addition to Juul’s team, along with K.C. Crosthwaite as Juul’s new CEO, underscores Altria’s confidence in Juul and commitment to help reposition Juul as a ‘responsible actor’ in the eyes of the FDA/government,” she wrote.

The moves follow a regulatory backlash against the growth of teen vaping in the United States. Last week, Juul Labs announced it would suspend all advertising in the country.

K.C. Crosthwaite has joined Juul Labs as CEO, replacing Kevin Burns. The move comes as Juul faces fierce criticism in the U.S. for its marketing practices.

Crosthwaite brings more than two decades of global operational, management, stakeholder and regulatory engagement experience. As chief growth officer at Altria Group, which owns a 35-percent stake in Juul, Crosthwaite oversaw the company’s expansion into smoking alternatives and played a key role in the commercial and regulatory efforts related to the U.S. launch of Altria’s heat-not-burn device,  IQOS.

Hyunseob Kim, professor of finance in the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University called Crosthwaite “a natural pick” for Juul, given his experience with federal regulators.

Concurrent with the leadership change, Juul Labs announced it would suspend all broadcast, print and digital product advertising in the U.S. and refrain from lobbying the administration on its draft guidance and committing to fully support and comply with the final policy when effective

“I have long believed in a future where adult smokers overwhelmingly choose alternative products like Juul,” said Crosthwaite. “That has been this company’s mission since it was founded, and it has taken great strides in that direction. Unfortunately, today that future is at risk due to unacceptable levels of youth usage and eroding public confidence in our industry.

“Against that backdrop, we must strive to work with regulators, policymakers and other stakeholders, and earn the trust of the societies in which we operate. That includes inviting an open dialogue, listening to others and being responsive to their concerns.”

Juul critics were unimpressed. “This announcement strips away any doubt about Juul,” said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “It is Big Tobacco.”

George Gershel passed away in Rougemont, Switzerland, on Sept. 20 at the age of 89 after a period of illness.

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, USA, Gershel was a fourth-generation tobacco man with a reputation for morals, product knowledge and fairness.

Gershel graduated from Cornell University and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict. He joined Consolidated Cigar in 1961 and retired from its successor company, Altadis USA, at the end of 2008 as executive vice president of tobacco.

Gershel is survived by his wife, three children and multiple grandchildren.

Japan Tobacco International (JTI) is planning to reduce staff at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, by a quarter over a three-year period as part of restructuring measures, according to a report by Swissinfo. JTI currently employs more than 1,100 people in the city.

Some of the 268 cut posts may be relocated to east Asia and eastern Europe, JTI said. Worldwide cuts are expected to affect 3,720 employees or 6 percent of the workforce.

JTI will reportedly concentrate its resources in Warsaw, Poland; St. Petersburg, Russia; and Manila, Philippines.

The company, which employs 45,000 people worldwide and has been based in Geneva since 2015, said it would remain headquartered in Geneva.

Declining sales, especially in Japan, have hurt JTI’s bottom line in recent years. The potential merger of rivals Philip Morris and Altria could also put further pressure on the industry.