Universal Corporation () is one of the world's leading tobacco merchants. Incorporated in 1886, Universal is headquarters in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Current operations

Universal buys, sells, and processes flue-cured and burley tobacco. It also holds a 49% interest in Socotab, LLC, a large dealer in oriental leaf tobaccos. The company does not manufacture cigarettes or other consumer tobacco products, although its largest customer is

Altria Group Altria Group, Inc. (previously known as Philip Morris Companies, Inc.) is an American corporation and one of the world's largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes and related products. It operates worldwide and is headquartered in ...

(owner of

Philip Morris USA Philip Morris USA is the American tobacco division of the American tobacco corporation Altria Group. History Creation The company's namesake Philip Morris was born in Whitechapel, United Kingdom in 1835, the son of a recent immigrant from G ...

). Universal

common stock Common stock is a form of corporate equity ownership, a type of security. The terms voting share and ordinary share are also used frequently outside of the United States. They are known as equity shares or ordinary shares in the UK and other Comm ...

is part of the

S&P 600 The S&P SmallCap 600 Index (S&P 600) is a stock market index established by Standard & Poor's. It covers roughly the small-cap range of American stocks, using a capitalization-weighted index. To be included in the index, a stock must have a total ...

index Index (or its plural form indices) may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Index (''A Certain Magical Index''), a character in the light novel series ''A Certain Magical Index'' * The Index, an item on a Halo megastru ...

History

After the 1911 breakup of the

American Tobacco Company The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter and Goodwin & Company. The company was one of the original 12 members ...

trust, Jacquelin (sic) P. Taylor incorporated Universal out of six formerly independent leaf merchants. In 2010, Universal along with Alliance One International were accused of violations of the

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (FCPA) (, ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law that prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests. The FCPA is applicable worl ...

of 1977. The company is alleged to have paid US$10,000 to the wife of an official in the Mozambique Ministry of Agriculture to secure favorable tax treatment in that country. In 2010, Universal paid about $10 million in restitution and penalties to settle the charges. On January 3, 2020, Universal purchased FruitSmart.

References

External links

Company Home PageCompany History
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Tobacco companies of the United States American companies established in 1886 Companies based in Richmond, Virginia 1918 establishments in Virginia Agriculture companies established in 1918 {{company-stub