Bond Street is a brand of cigarette made by Philip Morris.
The history of what is now a global company can be traced back to Philip Morris's 1847 opening of a single shop on London's Bond Street, selling tobacco and ready-made Cigarettes.
On Mr Morris's death, the business was taken over by his wife Margaret and his brother Leopold. In 1881 the company went public, Leopold Morris joining Joseph Grunebaum to establish Philip Morris & Company and Grunebaum, Ltd. This partnership was dissolved in 1885 and the company became known as Philip Morris & Co., Ltd.
The company finally left the founding family's control in 1894, when it was taken over by William Curtis Thomson and his family. Under Thomson, the company was appointed tobacconist to King Edward VII and, in 1902, was incorporated in New York, by Gustav Eckmeyer. Ownership was split 50-50 between the British parent and American partners. Eckmeyer had been sole agent for Philip Morris in the US since 1872, importing and selling English-made Cigarettes.
1919 was a crucial year for the company. It saw the introduction of the Philip Morris coronet logo, the acquisition of the Philip Morris Company in the US by a new firm owned by American stockholders, and its incorporation in Virginia under the name of Philip Morris & Co., Ltd., Inc. By the end of the next decade, the company had begun to manufacture Cigarettes in its factory in Richmond, Virginia; in 1924, what was to become its most famous brand, Marlboro, was introduced.
By the mid-1950s the company had become a part of American culture and soon after launched Philip Morris International to manufacture and market its products around the world.
Philip Morris International, part of Altria Group, Inc., is one of the world's leading tobacco companies and currently hold a 14.5% share of the international cigarette market and employ More than 60,000 people.
Philip Morris International, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, is one of the largest tobacco companies in the world:
produce many of the world's best-selling cigarette brands, including the most popular brand worldwide
brands are made in More than 50 factories around the world and sold in over 160 markets
founded in the 19th century, Philip Morris has grown into a worldwide organization; today Philip Morris International alone employs More than 60,000 people worldwide