3 min read
Cigarette Divestment: Could a Company Voluntarily Stop Selling Cigarettes?
No major nicotine company has voluntarily exited the cigarette business. The obstacles: cigarettes generate the revenue that funds the transition, shareholders demand returns, and exiting would cede the market to competitors. Divestment is possible—just not profitable yet.
PMI says it wants a 'smoke-free future.' BAT says it's 'reducing the health impact of our business.' Neither has stopped selling cigarettes. **The obstacle is not moral. It's financial: cigarettes generate the revenue that funds the transition to reduced-risk products. Divesting from cigarettes before the alternatives are profitable enough to sustain the company would be corporate suicide. The transition will happen when the economics make it possible—not before.**
