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Juul Labs

Consumer/vapingUSA
New to Unitard
βœ‚οΈ Markdown
PeakΒ $38 BillionToday
~-98%
from peak
  1. πŸ¦„
    Became a unicorn
    2017
  2. πŸ“ˆ
    Peak valuation
    $38 Billion ’18
  3. πŸ’”
    Became a Unitard
    ~2022
  4. πŸ’Έ
    Last valuation
    ~$760M
Current status
Altria carried its 35% stake at $250M (Dec 2022, ~$0.7B implied); Fidelity marks $1.91/share, up from $1.18 in mid-2025

The rise & fall

11 moments Β· 2015–2026

The key moments, with employee sentiment along the way.

2015
Juul launches inside Pax Labs
A sleek nicotine-salt vape that actually satisfies smokers β€” and, soon, teenagers.
Wikipedia
2017
Spins out as a unicorn
Juul Labs goes independent and dominates U.S. vaping within a year.
WSJ
Dec 2018
The peak: Altria pays $12.8B for 35%$38B
The Marlboro maker's stake values Juul at $38B β€” and triggers billion-dollar employee bonuses.
WSJ
2019
The youth-vaping reckoning
Flavors come off the market, the CEO steps down, and lawsuits stack up.
Reuters
Jun 2022
FDA orders Juul off the market
A marketing denial order lands (soon stayed on appeal), capping years of restrictions.
FDA/Reuters
Dec 2022
Altria writes the stake down to $250M
The Marlboro maker carries its 35% at $250M at year-end β€” roughly $0.7B for the whole company, about 98% below the peak.
Altria 10-K
Mar 2023
Altria swaps its stake for heated-tobacco IP
A $12.8B investment ends as a patent license; Altria leaves the cap table entirely.
Altria press release
From the inside Β· Glassdoor reviews, 2019–24
Glassdoor reviews trace the whiplash from inside: headcount that ballooned from a few hundred to roughly 4,000, then shrank back under 1,000 through repeated layoff waves, while employees wrote off once-prized stock grants as worthless.
Jul 2025
FDA authorizes the Juul System
Marketing granted orders cover the device and its 3% and 5% tobacco and menthol pods, reversing the 2022 denial.
FDA
2026
The mark turns up
Fidelity funds lift their Level-3 mark from $1.18 a share in mid-2025 to $1.91–$1.98 β€” off the floor, still far below the 2018 round.
SEC NPORT-P
Today
Still private β€” the funds keep marking
VIP Growth Opportunities Portfolio marks it at $1.90/share Β· as of Mar 2026
SEC NPORT-P

πŸ’¬ entries paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor β†—; dated facts carry their source.

How it happened

Juul Labs sold sleek e-cigarettes that dominated the U.S. vaping market, reaching a ~$38B valuation in 2018 after Altria paid $12.8B for 35%. Regulatory scrutiny over youth vaping, FDA marketing restrictions and waves of litigation gutted the business: Altria wrote the stake down again and again, carrying it at $250M at the end of 2022 β€” roughly $0.7B for the whole company, about 98% below peak β€” before exchanging it outright in March 2023 for a license to Juul's heated-tobacco patents.

The mark has since turned up. After the FDA granted marketing orders in 2025 for the Juul device and its tobacco and menthol pods, eleven Fidelity fund tracks lifted their Level-3 mark from $1.18 a share in June 2025 to $1.91–$1.98 through spring 2026 β€” up roughly 60% off the low, though still far below where the 2018 round put the company.

Mutual-fund markdowns

11 funds Β· SEC NPORT-P

How U.S. mutual funds fair-value this still-private company in their quarterly SEC filings.

Per-share mark from peak
+0%
VIP Growth Opportunities Portfolio
$1.90 β†’ $1.90
as of Mar 2026
FundClass$/shFrom peakAs of
VIP Growth Opportunities Portfolio$1.90+0%Mar 2026
Fidelity Growth Company K6 Fund$1.98+0%Feb 2026
Fidelity Growth Company Fund$1.98+0%Feb 2026
Fidelity Series Growth Company Fund$1.98+0%Feb 2026
Fidelity Advisor Series Growth Opportunities Fund$1.98+0%Feb 2026
Fidelity Advisor Growth Opportunities Fund$1.98+0%Feb 2026
VIP Consumer Staples Portfolio$1.90+0%Mar 2026
Fidelity Blue Chip Growth K6 Fund$1.91+0%Apr 2026
Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund$1.91+0%Apr 2026
Select Consumer Staples Portfolio$1.98β€”Feb 2026
Fidelity Series Blue Chip Growth Fund$1.91β€”Apr 2026

Source: SEC EDGAR Form NPORT-P (Level-3 fair-value marks). Per-share marks reflect the fund’s own valuation of a specific share class and aren’t a company-wide valuation. Last refreshed Jun 2026.

Source: Altria 10-K (35% stake carried at $250M, Dec 2022); SEC NPORT-P fund marks (below)

Founders & leadership

  • K.C. Crosthwaite
    CEO & chairman (since Sept 2019, led through markdown)
    Still there β€” Chairman & CEOLinkedIn β†—
  • Adam Bowen
    co-founder & chief technology officer (met Monsees at Stanford; designed the device)
    LinkedIn β†—
  • James Monsees
    co-founder & chief product officer (stepped down 2020)
    LinkedIn β†—

Current roles as self-reported on LinkedIn, retrieved 2026-08-21. See our methodology.

πŸ¦„