After a prolonged fight against the underage usage of its products, Juul Labs struck a deal with Altria Group. The Altria Group are the owners of Philip Morris USA and makers of Marlboro cigarettes. The deal imputed valuation of $38 billion for Juul Labs, and the group invested $12.8 billion for a 35% stake in the start-up.
Here’s what Juul Labs CEO Kevin Burns said in a statement:
“We understand the controversy and skepticism that comes with affiliation and partnership with the largest tobacco company in the US. We were skeptical as well. But over the course of the last several months, we were convinced by actions, not words, that in fact, this partnership could help accelerate our success switching adult smokers. We understand the doubt. We doubted as well.”
If this was an early Christmas for the start-up, the Christmas just got a whole lot merrier!
According to a report from CNBC, $2 billion of Juul’s recent $12.8 billion fundraising will be put towards paying employee bonuses. With around 1,500 employees at Juul sharing the $2 billion, each employee on average could receive approximately $1.3 million, CNBC reports.
CNBC cited people familiar with the matter, stating that bonus amounts will depend on many factors, including how long employees have been at Juul and how many stock options they have been granted. Juul did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request to explain exactly how the payouts will work and has not yet confirmed or denied the statements made in the report.
At present, Juul Labs’ valuation is higher than that of many tech giants such as Airbnb, Pinterest, and Lyft.
