Jessica Wynn

Yeah, well, I mean, that was the public line.

The reality is most adults didn't quit.

They just picked up a new habit.

Meanwhile, Juul was advertising on Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network.

Yeah, I mean, it was before regulations got to them.

And so the teen market skyrocketed the company's profits, which got the attention of Big Tobacco.

And in 2018, tobacco giant Altria, who are the makers of Marlboro products, they swooped in and bought a 35 percent stake of Juul for about 13 billion dollars.

They could have been duped, too.

I don't who knows what was happening.

It's very deceptive.

I don't know.

Ask mom and dad before going in the smoke shop.

But somebody did.

It didn't go well for these companies and regulators did crack down.

Lawsuits piled up and Juul's value tanked.

By 2023, Altria traded at stake for Juul's intellectual property rights, meaning it walked away with Juul's patents, making Juul independent again.

But Altria still profited from the technology.

I know.

Yeah.

And now Altria owns multiple vape brands like Enjoy, Views, Logic, plus stakes in others like Plume and Swick.