Michael Szymancyk

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Michael Szymancyk is the Chairman and CEO of the Altria Group, formerly Philip Morris, since 2008. He was paid $24.1 million in 2010.[1]

Ties to the American Legislative Exchange Council

Altria is a longtime member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and an Altria representative sits on the Corporate ("Private Enterprise") Board as of 2011. [2]

About ALEC
ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site.

(see also ALEC and Tobacco)

Background

Szymancyk joined Philip Morris USA in 1990 as Senior Vice President of Sales. He held a number of executive positions at PM USA and was appointed President and CEO of that company in 1997. Previously, he worked in sales and marketing at Procter & Gamble and Kraft."[3]

Altria/Philip Morris is the world's largest tobacco company. In the U.S. it controls about half of the tobacco market. In 2007 Altria spun off its food division Kraft Foods Inc. (Jell-O, Kool-Aid, Maxwell House). [4] Altria Group's primary holdings until 2007 included Philip Morris companies as well as Kraft Foods until 2007.

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

ALEC and Tobacco

References

  1. Altria Executive Profiles,"Michael Szymanczyk"
  2. Private Enterprise Board, ALEC website, accessed July 7, 2011.
  3. Michael E. Szymanczyk,"Altria.com"
  4. Altria Profile, Hoovers, accessed August 2007.

External resources

External articles

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