According to a news report from Journalnow on October 5th, the board of directors of British American Tobacco (BAT) has announced the appointment of Murray Kessler, former CEO of Lorillard Tobacco, as an independent director on November 6th. Kessler served as Chairman and CEO of Lorillard from 2010 to June 2015, when it was acquired by Reynolds American for $29.25 billion.
After Renault USA’s acquisition of Lararald, Kessler joined the board of directors. Recently, Kessler assumed the roles of CEO and President at Perrigo Public Limited Company. His previous experience in the tobacco industry includes serving as Chairman, CEO, and President at UST (United States Tobacco).
Luc Jobin, Chairman of British American Tobacco, stated in a declaration, “‘A Better Tomorrow’ is a new initiative launched by British American Tobacco in 2019. The focus of this plan is primarily on new category products, including the best-selling e-cigarette, Vuse, in the United States, the heat-not-burn product, glo (not yet available in the US), and the oral products, Camel Snus and Velo.”
British American Tobacco (BAT) has recently undergone multiple personnel changes. Guy Meldrum, the former President and CEO of BAT subsidiary Reynolds American, resigned on June 30th, and David Waterfield assumed his position on July 1st. Tadeu Marroco took over as CEO of BAT on May 15th, replacing Jack Bowles, who unexpectedly and immediately resigned from his roles as President and CEO after serving for four years.
The British media is tracing the reasons behind the unexpected resignation of Mr. Bowles and points out that this may be related to the disclosure by British American Tobacco on April 26, 2023, of their agreement to pay a civil penalty of $508 million to settle “allegations of selling tobacco to North Korea in violation of (US) sanctions.
