
9. Juul Labs
Juul Labs, Inc, an American e-cigarette company that came into being on May 22, 2015, is currently valued at $24 billion. Co-founded by James Monsees and Adam Bowen, Juul Labs split-off from Pax Labs in 2017. Its headquarters are in San Francisco. Altria Group became the biggest shareholding company by acquiring a 35% stake in Juul Labs on December 20, 2018, for which the founders received a massive $12.8 billion.
James and Adam doled out $2 billion among Juul’s 1,500 employees, which Altria had paid separately as a bonus. Since its foundation, Juul’s has had a meteoric rise because of its aggressive marketing strategy. Within a year of Juul’s launch, overall sales skyrocketed to a phenomenal 700% as a result of said marketing.