Philip Morris International Inc. is an American multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. The most recognized and best selling product of the company is Marlboro; its other major cigarette brands include L&M and Chesterfield. Philip Morris International is often referred to as one of the companies comprising Big Tobacco. The company originated in 1847 in London. However the present company was founded in March 2008 when it was spun off by its then American parent Altria group, of which Philip Morris International was an operating company of. PMI's legal seat is presently in Stamford, Connecticut, but it does not operate in the United States of America: Philip Morris USA, a subsidiary of PMI's former parent Altria, owns the Philip Morris brands there. PMI's operational headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland. It employs more than 1,500 people. With tobacco being addictive and the single greatest cause of preventable death globally, the company is highly controversial, not least because of its history of obfuscating scientific evidence around the health effects of smoking. Wikipedia