Good day, and welcome to the Altria Group 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Today's virtual meeting is scheduled to last less than one hour. In the unlikely event we experience technical issues today, we ask you stand by while we try to resolve the issue and resume the meeting or otherwise provide an update on the status of the meeting. I would now like to turn the meeting over to Kathryn McQuade, Chair of Altria's Board. Please go ahead. Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and welcome. I call to order Altria's 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. I am Kathryn B. McQuade, Chair of Altria's Board. With me today are Billy Gifford, Altria's CEO, and Brandt Surgner, Altria's Corporate Secretary. Thank you for joining us. Let's start with the meeting agenda and the rules of conduct, which are located at the bottom right of the virtual meeting site. The rules of conduct explain how we will conduct the meeting, including our question and answer session. We will begin by presenting our meeting documents, move to electing directors, and then vote to ratify the selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers as Altria's independent registered public accounting firm. Next, we will move to the advisory vote on the compensation of Altria's named executive officers. And finally, we will proceed to the vote on two shareholder proposals, if properly presented. After the shareholder proposals, we will close the poll, and Brandt will announce the preliminary voting results. Billy will then share brief remarks and answer your questions. Only shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 25, 2024, are entitled to vote during the meeting. Shareholders may vote through the virtual meeting site until the polls are closed. You will need a valid 16-digit control number to vote. If you voted before the meeting, there is no need to vote unless you wish to change your vote. If you are voting at the meeting, we suggest you vote on each matter as it is presented. The window for shareholders to submit questions will remain open throughout the meeting. Again, I direct the shareholders to our rules of conduct for instructions on how to submit questions and for additional information about the question and answer session. You must have a valid 16-digit control number to submit a question. Only questions relating to the meeting will be answered during the question and answer portion, subject to the 30-minute time limit prescribed by the rules of conduct. With that introduction, Brandt, please present our meeting document. Thanks, Catherine. I present, together with the Affidavits of Mailing, a copy of the Notice of Meeting, Form of Proxy, Proxy Statement as supplemented, and an annual report, which includes Altria's financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023. 81.23% of Altria's common stock is represented here today, so a quorum is present. Thank you, Brandt. Please file the documents with our meeting records. Altria has appointed Broadridge Financial Solutions to act as the Inspector of Election. Jim Alden and Peter Scheiblin have each taken the oath of Inspector of Election and will be tabulating the votes for this morning's meeting. The inspector's responsibility is to determine the number of shares represented at the meeting and to certify the votes. All proxies are confidential unless shareholders have commented on them. Now, let's turn to the election of directors. Before doing so, it's my privilege to thank Nabil Sakkab for his fifteen years of distinguished service on the Altria board. Dr. Sakkab has decided to retire from the board upon the completion of his term, which is today. We very much appreciate his many contributions over the years, including his strong chairmanship of the Innovation Committee, and I hope you'll join me in thanking him for his service to our board. Now, please welcome our board of directors, all of whom are in attendance today. It is an extraordinary and committed group that provides strong leadership and thoughtful oversight to Altria. We value the skill, experiences, and perspectives they bring to the board. Brandt, please announce the names of the nominees for director. The nominees are Ian L.T. Clarke, Marjorie M. Connelly, R. Matt Davis, Billy Gifford, Debra J. Kelly-Ennis, Kathryn B. McQuade, George Muñoz, Virginia E. Shanks, Ellen R. Strahlman, and M. Max Yzaguirre, each to hold office until the next annual meeting of shareholders and until his or her successor has been duly elected and qualified. Thank you. Under our bylaws, the nominations are closed. Our board recommends that shareholders vote in favor of each nominee for director. We will pause momentarily to allow votes to be cast. Our next item is the ratification and selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as Altria's independent registered public accounting firm for 2024. We welcome Kevin Kelly from PwC, who has also joined us today. Brandt, will you please present the matter? I move for the adoption of the following resolution. Resolved that shareholders of Altria Group, Inc. ratify the selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as Altria's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31st 2024. Thank you. Our board recommends that shareholders vote in favor of this matter. We will pause momentarily to allow votes to be cast. Let's move now to the advisory vote to approve the compensation of our named executive officers. While this vote is non-binding, the Compensation and Talent Development Committee will consider its outcome when making future decisions. Our board recommends that the shareholders vote in favor of this proposal. Brandt, will you please present the matter? I move for the adoption of the following resolution. Resolved that shareholders of Altria Group, Inc. approve on an advisory basis, the compensation of Altria's named executive officers as described in the Compensation Discussion and Analysis section of the Proxy Statement. Thank you. Our board recommends that the shareholders vote in favor of this matter. We will pause momentarily to allow votes to be cast. We will now turn to the two shareholder proposals and, if properly presented, vote on them. The board recommends a vote against both proposals for the reasons explained in the proxy statement. Operator, please open the line for Cathy Rowan, who will present the shareholder proposal on behalf of Trinity Health, regarding a report on the congruence of political and lobbying expenditures with the company's vision, responsibility, focus areas, and cultural aspirations. Welcome to the meeting, Ms. Rowan. Please proceed with your proposal. Ms. Rowan, your line is now open. Thanks, Ms. McQuade. Good morning, and good morning, Mr. Gifford, members of the board, fellow shareholders. I'm Cathy Rowan, and on behalf of Trinity Health and the nine co-filers, all of us members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, we seek your vote for Proposal Four, which asks the company to analyze and report on the congruence of both political spending and lobbying expenditures during the preceding year, compared to the company's statements on its vision, responsibility, focus areas, and cultural aspirations, and list and explain instances of incongruent or misaligned expenditures, and report whether these identified incongruencies will lead to changes in future spending. Political spending and corporate lobbying are key issues for investors as they manage social and environmental risks in their portfolios. More and more investors are seeking transparency and disclosure of companies' efforts to review and analyze their political and lobbying spending in order to ensure that these expenditures are aligned with corporate responsibility, strategies, and commitments. We agree with the company that its annual lobbying and political activity, Transparency and Integrity Report, is a leading practice, and we appreciate the ongoing dialogue we have had with Altria. However, as our proposal notes, there remain critical gaps in the information Altria provides that may pose risks. Unlike peer companies such as Coca-Cola, Kellogg, Kraft Heinz, PepsiCo, and others, Altria does not disclose the nondeductible portion of trade association payments that go to lobbying, so investors have no information on the size of Altria payments used for lobbying by their trade associations. In Altria's most recent transparency report, there is new information about issues the company cares about, such as farm labor and climate change, and on its inclusion, diversity, and equity efforts. However, there is no disclosure as to whether the company analyzes the alignment of spending, political spending, and lobbying activities with its 2025 goals around managing climate change impacts and risks, its 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction goals, and its 2025 goals of increasing diversity within the company and advancing racial, social, and economic equity. And there are reasons for investor concern for this lack of transparency, as the positions of some of the recipients of Altria's over $8 million in charitable contributions in business-directed giving appear to be misaligned with some of the issues that Altria cares about. While the company's Lobbying and Political Activity, Transparency and Integrity Report is very useful, our proposal would close a critical gap in information. And greatly enhance transparency. Therefore, we ask investors to vote for Proposal Four. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Rowan. We will pause momentarily to allow the votes to be cast. Operator, please open the line for Kelly McBee, who will present the shareholder proposal on behalf of As You Sow, regarding a report assessing the benefits to Altria of extended producer responsibility laws for spent tobacco filters for tobacco companies operating in the U.S. market. Welcome to the meeting, Ms. McBee. Please proceed with your proposal. Ms. McBee, your line is now open. Thank you for the opportunity to present this proposal. I'm Kelly McBee, Circular Economy Manager at As You Sow. I'm pleased to present item number 5, Producer Responsibility for Plastic Cigarette Waste. This proposal asks our company to assess the benefits of taking financial responsibility for spent tobacco filters through extended producer responsibility policies, known as EPR. Plastic pollution has reached crisis levels. Cigarette filters made from plastic acetate make up a significant portion of plastic pollution. Filters are likely the most littered form of plastic on the planet and the most littered item overall in the United States. It is estimated that 4.5 trillion non-biodegradable filters, each containing more than 15,000 plastic microfibers, are discarded every year, contributing up to 300,000 tons of microfibers, each with heavy metals and nicotine, into the environment. The urgency and scale of the plastic pollution crisis has led to growing global momentum for EPR laws that hold manufacturers financially responsible for the end-of-life costs of their products. In Europe, the EU's Single-Use Plastic Directive recently imposed EPR on tobacco producers to cover the cost of collecting and processing cigarette filter waste. In Denmark, France, and Spain, cigarette filter cleanup fees have already been imposed. It is anticipated that EPR fees on cigarette filter waste will soon extend beyond Europe and into the United States, as has already been done for other product types. EPR policies addressing plastic and other forms of consumer packaging originated in Europe and then spread rapidly to the United States. Today, there are more than 136 EPR laws in 33 U.S. states. Some U.S. cities have already acted to charge tobacco companies for cigarette waste. San Francisco imposes a litter abatement fee of $1.50 on each pack of cigarettes sold within the city. Baltimore filed a lawsuit with tobacco companies seeking compensation for $ millions spent cleaning up tobacco filter waste. In light of the growing momentum toward EPR laws addressing tobacco waste, Altria can position itself, mitigate financial risk, and enhance future competitiveness by taking steps now to address the impact of EPR laws on tobacco waste, including voluntarily embracing EPR for its products. Proactive management of this risk will mitigate future costs and demonstrate the company's good faith to lawmakers and regulators. Adoption of this proposal would put Altria in the best position to avoid litigation and to be ready to comply with and compete effectively under our legislation for tobacco filters and waste. Please vote yes on proposal number five. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. McBee. All matters to be voted on have now been presented. If you wish to vote, please do so at this time. We will pause momentarily to allow final votes to be cast. Since all shareholders have had the opportunity to vote, the polls are now closed. We now move to the preliminary voting results. Brandt, please summarize the inspector's report. The inspectors have completed the preliminary count of the vote. The preliminary voting results are as follows: Shareholders have elected each of the nominees for director with more than 96.25% of the shares voting, voting for their election. The selection of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as Altria's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2024, has been ratified with more than 96.41% of the shares voting, voting in favor. Shareholders have approved, on an advisory basis, the compensation of Altria's named executive officers with more than 95.13% of the shares voting, voting in favor. Proposal Four has been defeated with 90.5% of the shares voting on the proposal voting against, and 9.4% voting in favor. Proposal Five has been defeated with 91.49% of the shares voting on the proposal voting against. And 8.5% voting in favor. That concludes the report. Thank you, Brandt. Please file the report and the proxies with our meeting records. We will post the final voting results on Altria's website and file them with the SEC on a Form 8-K in the next few days. This concludes the business portion of the meeting, and that portion of the meeting is now adjourned. With that, I will turn the meeting over to Billy for some brief remarks, followed by a question and answer session. Thanks, Catherine, and good morning, everyone. I hope you've had the chance to review the business, financial, and corporate responsibility resources on Altria.com, including our full year 2023 and first quarter 2024 Business Results, and our latest Corporate Responsibility Reports. Our corporate responsibility reporting demonstrates the continued progress we're making toward our vision of responsibly leading the transition of adult smokers to a smoke-free future. We believe that by meeting the opportunity to advance tobacco harm reduction, we will both align with the societal demands of our businesses and create substantial shareholder value. Before we turn to the question and answer session, I will provide a brief update on Altria's Equity and Civil Rights Assessment. At our 2022 annual meeting, more than 62% of shares voted, supported a shareholder proposal requesting that our board commission a civil rights equity audit. In 2023, we commenced our Equity and Civil Rights Assessment, which is being overseen by an external independent advisory review board. We plan to complete the assessment and have it assured by Bureau Veritas, a third-party firm with extensive experience assuring ESG reports. We then expect to publish the final report by the end of 2024. Let's now proceed to our question and answer session. Mac Livingston, our Vice President of Investor Relations, will present the questions you have submitted through the meeting site. Let's begin. Thanks, Billy. As we describe in our rules of conduct, we will take questions in the order in which they are received, subject to the 30-minute time limit. To permit as many questions as possible, we may group questions submitted by multiple shareholders on the same topic. The rules of conduct explain how we will handle questions if we run out of time. Your first shareholder question comes from Anne Gerkin: With major players leaning into the U.S. market in the non-combustible segment, how does the company view its internal product innovation capabilities versus opportunities and/or need for potential M&A to successfully navigate an increasingly competitive landscape for both oral and heat-not-burn products? Is there a growing risk that on! loses its leading market share position? As related to the combustible segment, with consumers under increasing economic pressures, what are the opportunities to leverage data analytics to better target resources or promotions to address the widened domestic cigarette price gap and adjust to changing consumer purchase patterns? Yeah, and welcome to the meeting, and thanks for your question. Look, you're right. We're in a dynamic industry that is evolving rapidly, and we're trying to evolve because we want to continue to satisfy our consumers. And as you are well aware, we employ a portfolio strategy to meet that. And I think it's important to step back and think about that portfolio of products we've amassed. We're number one in cigarettes with our Marlboro brand, and so that's the, the cigarette, segment. We're number one in the most profitable machine-made large cigar with our brand, Black & Mild. We still are number one in traditional moist smokeless tobacco with both our brands, Copenhagen and Skoal. And then to your point on smoke-free, we feel like we've amassed what we feel like can be a very successful portfolio. You mentioned on! and Nicotine Pouches, and at our Investor Day, we unveiled innovation behind that with on! PLUS, and we expect to file that with the FDA, the application for that, by the end of this quarter. And in the meantime, we've launched that internationally and are very pleased with the results we're seeing internationally with the acceptance of on! PLUS overseas. We acquired NJOY, and we've tried to carefully walk through how we're stepping through so that we build sustainable growth in that segment, and I'm sure we'll have more questions on the e-vapor space later on. But we feel like that is a product that tests very well with consumers, and early indications are it's performing very well in the marketplace. Then in heat-not-burn, we have both the joint venture with Japan Tobacco to market their Ploom device, partnered with Marlboro Heated Tobacco Sticks in the U.S. We are currently working jointly with Japan Tobacco to be able to submit that application in the first part of next year. Then we also unveiled at Investor Day an internally developed product called SWIC that is a capsule product versus a heated tobacco stick. We announced at the end of the first quarter that we would look to launch that in a market internationally to continue to get learnings related to that product... The second part of your question related to the increasing economic pressures that our consumer is under and the use of data analytics. We're very excited and very pleased with the results of our investments in advanced analytics. As you know, we get extensive amounts of data from retail, and the price gap that we show on a quarterly basis is the price gap on a national basis. With the data analytics and the amount of data that we receive, we're able to manage that price gap pretty much down to the store level. So you can go to a major city and see the price gap in one store on one side of the city be different than the other side of the city. So we're very pleased with that. We know our consumer is under economic pressure, and I think you see the implementation of that revenue growth management in the results of Marlboro. You can see that pre-COVID to post-COVID, pretty rock steady overall in its market share in the cigarette segment. Then Marlboro itself has actually grown its share of the premium segment, so it's performing very well for those consumers. It continues to be the aspirational brand in the cigarette segment. Thanks for your question. Your next question comes from Trishelle Goodwin. On your website, you state, "Tobacco manufacturers, regulators, and policymakers must stay vigilant to prevent youth use of tobacco products." My question is: where is your vigilance when you're creating advertisements that directly appeal to youth? Do you feel responsible for addicting youth when you partner with youthful influencers to promote your products? Yeah, I appreciate your question related to youth. Let's be clear about it. Kids should not use any tobacco products, and adults who don't use tobacco should, today, should not start. Related to your question about influencers, as a, as a policy, Altria and its tobacco companies do not leverage influencers to market or support our brands. You may be confusing us with some other companies that may use influencers, but as part of our policy, we do not. As far as our overall commitment for our marketing practices, all of our companies are committed to marketing their products responsibly to adult tobacco consumers 21 years of age and older. We take steps to limit the reach to unintended audiences, including both youth and non-tobacco users. We have practices internal to assure that all of our marketing practices align with this commitment. Your next question comes from Edward Sweeda. Last month, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a town of Brookline law that prohibits the sale of tobacco products to anyone born on or after January 1, 2000. Since Altria claims that it supports a transition to a smoke-free future, will you pledge today that Altria will not oppose or lobby against legislation elsewhere in the country that is similar to Brookline's law? Mr. Sweeda, welcome to the meeting. I think when you think about our commitment to a smoke-free future, I noticed in the question you used the word claim, but we clearly state in our vision, it's to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a smoke-free future. You may have heard my answer to the last question. It's just to be clear, kids should not use any tobacco products, and adults who don't use tobacco products today should not start. Now, that leaves a group of consumers that can't or won't quit. Now, certainly for adult consumers concerned about the health risk of tobacco use, the best thing to do is quit. But those that can't or won't, our goal is to transition them to FDA-authorized non-combustible products. I think when you think about where we feel like that's best implemented, it's at the federal level, and that's why we supported the passage of the Tobacco Control Act, giving the FDA regulatory authority over all nicotine products. Your next question comes from Abigail Rexroad. Given the addictive nature of tobacco products, especially among young people, how does your organization ensure that its marketing practices do not target or appeal to underage individuals? Yeah, I think, I don't mean to be repetitive, but I'll go back to all of our operating companies are committed to marketing their products responsibly to adult tobacco consumers 21 years of age and older, while taking steps to limit the reach to unintended audiences, including both youth and non-tobacco users. And we have practices and processes internally that assure our marketing practice align with this commitment. So that's the marketing side, but it seems in your question, you may also be referring to the sales side. And with that, we actually have retail contracts with our retailers that carry our products. And as part of those contracts, they're contractually obligated to implement We Card, which requires the retailer to card anybody purchasing nicotine products. As part of that contracting, we have store clerk training. We are investing in age and identity verification technology that our retailers can use at retail. We supported Tobacco 21, which raised the legal age in most states, which was 18, 19 in some states, to the legal age of 21, which is federal law now. And then, of course, the FDA regularly inspects the retail compliance with not selling to underage users. And I think the results of all of this is that we see the lowest recorded underage use in generations... currently in cigarettes. That doesn't prevent us from continuing to make progress to preventing youth from engaging in nicotine products. Your next question comes from Jonathan Chafee. A recent report found that 16% of tobacco retailers are in major non-compliance with a federal court order to display corrective statements. What actions are you taking to ensure that you and the stores are in compliance with this court order? Yeah, thank you for your question. I think when you think about compliance with the DOJ order, we have just over 1,200 people in our field sales force that call on retail locations across the U.S. As part of their call, responsibilities and calling on those stores, is to assure that the DOJ corrective statements are displayed and is displayed appropriately. As you mentioned, the DOJ does require an audit, and that they were the results of the most recent audit, but we continually have it as one of the responsibilities for our field sales force when they call stores, to see that those corrective statements are displayed and displayed correctly in the stores. Your next question comes from Jim Merrick. What is Altria's dividend policy, and what rate do you expect future dividends to increase? Yeah, so the dividend increases, I'll take it in reverse order. Dividend increases are at the discretion of the board. Our overall policy for dividends is that we've instituted what we call a progressive dividend. What that means is our goal or aim is to increase dividends on an annual basis in the mid-single digits, and so that we would be able to step those dividends forward as we move forward, of course, at the discretion of the board. What allows us those dividends is the cash generation of our core tobacco businesses, which convert cash income to cash at over 90%, which is unheard of in most CPG categories. So we certainly want to keep those core tobacco businesses strong. Your next question comes from Lawrence Wolk. Are there any new developments with heat-not-burn products, specifically with Ploom X, and how would this product eventually favorably compete with IQOS in the U.S.? Yeah, it's a great question. We see Ploom X. Japan Tobacco has launched that in many international markets. It's gaining share in most markets. It's certainly satisfying consumers. They continue to innovate internally based on that. We think one of the things that give us an advantage is that we talk to, call it, roughly half of tobacco consumers currently engaged in the nicotine space with our existing products. So we know the consumers, and we can engage with them and get them proactively on a journey to smoke-free products. In addition to that, when you think about heat-not-burn products, and specifically the stick product, excuse me, the stick product, the consumer is looking for a familiar tactile experience, the feel of that stick in their mouth. We think the Ploom device, coupled with Marlboro as the brand on the heated tobacco sticks, allows the consumer to see something they're familiar with. They trust the brand Marlboro, and we think that certainly gives us an edge up once we get that authorized by the FDA. Your next question comes from Abigail Leone. Referring to your website, you support underage access prevention, such as the Success 360 initiative, focusing especially on middle school students. However, recent statistics show an increase in middle schoolers using tobacco products, and recent marketing campaigns market tobacco as having a positive impact on mental health, such as the Solo ad campaign and the Views ad campaign. Furthermore, over 2.8 million youth use tobacco products in the United States, and many of them use Altria's products. What do you have to say about the way these products are negatively impacting my peers, and how are you going to make a substantial impact on youth mental health, given the fact that 90% of people who quit using tobacco products reported feeling less anxious or depressed? Certainly, I'll restate our view on harm reduction. To be clear, kids shouldn't use any tobacco products or nicotine-containing products, and adults who don't use tobacco products today should not start. In regards to some of the youth numbers that you're quoting, you may recall in my earlier answer, underage use of cigarettes is at generational lows. And I think that the efforts that you mentioned with our Success 360 partners really in the schools and educating youth on not to use cigarettes. I think when you think about some of the other numbers where you talked about high youth use, one is the e-vapor category. And when you think about e-vapor, some of the products you mentioned, of course, are not our products. But the NJOY product that we have in the marketplace, we certainly follow the practices we do in our other segments, such as cigarettes, and we're not interested in anybody under the age of 21 using those products. One of the things I should mention is that there's a vast array of products that are illicit in the marketplace. Two of those that are illicit are at the top... are in the top four for youth usage identified in the National Youth Tobacco Survey. What we are continuing to do is engage with both the FDA, state legislatures, federal legislature,... to really step up enforcement at the FDA to get these illicit products out of the marketplace. I think when you step back and you think about adults converting, it's important to see this as a bit of a proof of concept, that if the FDA focused on two things: authorizing products that meet the science and evidence that they can reduce harm or potentially reduce harm, and then enforcing those illicit products. But again, there's always work to do to keep youth from engaging in that, and we're committed to it. Your next question comes from Gentile Jose. You claim that a top priority for Altria is remaining vigilant, that harm reduction is an off-ramp for adult cigarette smokers and not an on-ramp for underage tobacco use. While vaping rates in high schools have decreased, vaping rates in middle school have increased. What is Altria doing to reduce the usage of their products from middle schoolers? Yeah, I think you're hitting on a key point, and that's related to some of the flavors that are in the marketplace, and you heard my previous answer related to illicit vape. I think it's we could have the FDA focus on authorizing products that adult consumers want to use, while at the same time preventing underage consumers from reaching those. I'll give you an example of what I'm referring to. Flavors play an important role for adults converting, but we know that they can be attractive to underage users. And so we are submitting by the end of this quarter, the second quarter, age restriction flavors to the FDA. We think this fits exactly what you're referring to. It is an off-ramp for adult users, but not an on-ramp for underage. So we're excited to be able to submit that to the FDA. That age restriction technology allows adults to have flavors that they're desiring, but underage users, because of that Bluetooth technology, will not be able to utilize any of the devices. So that's just one example of the way we want to continue to achieve progress or make progress to achieving our vision of moving adult consumers to a smoke-free future. Your next question comes from Samantha Lay. How does Altria reconcile its so-called commitment to a smoke-free future when nearly 90% of your revenue comes from cigarettes and cigars? I appreciate your question. I, I think as you think about it, you see our vision. We've amassed a portfolio of products, we engage with those consumers, and we're steadily looking to proactively get them on the journey as they make the choice, and help them make the choice to move to smoke-free products. You heard some of the portfolio of products that we've amassed. We think they will be the products that consumers are looking for to make that transition from combustible to smoke-free products. Those products are on!, and then on! PLUS, once authorized, it's NJOY in the e-vapor category, and then we have what we feel like are two very viable products in the heat-not-burn space. So it's amassing these products, so that the consumers... and the education that we're really working with the FDA to put forward to adult consumers so that they can make an informed choice related to making that transition and that choice to move from combustibles to smoke-free. Your next question comes from Julia Sogby. There are large disparities in those who smoke, such as the LGBTQ community and Native American community, who smoke more compared to their respective counterparts. Why is Altria continuing to fuel these disparities through advertisements and targeted promotions through their tobacco products? Yeah, I appreciate your question. We actually share the common goal with the FDA of moving all adult consumers beyond smoking. We just don't feel like prohibition works in the regards that the FDA has looked at. We want to proactively and responsibly transition adult smokers to a smoke-free future, and as part of that, we feel like all adult smokers, we call it equitable harm reduction. All adult smokers, regardless of background, demographics, or financial means, should have equal access to cessation resources if they desire to quit, and equal opportunity to reduce harm products so that they can make an informed choice. Your next question comes from Megan Merrigan. In the past, your company has attempted to market your brands towards women through various campaigns, such as the Virginia Slims, You've Come a Long Way, Baby campaign, the Be a King campaign, and the Find Your Voice campaign from the 2000s, advertising techniques that made it appear as if women would become more independent when they used your products. However, the products made women more dependent on them to the point where they became addicted. Do you regret your company's past actions equating smoking your products with being an empowered woman? Does the company owe women an apology? I think you'll recall, as part of some of my earlier answers, our operating companies are really committed to marketing their products responsibly to adult tobacco consumers, 21+. And then we take steps to limit the reach to unintended audiences, including youth and non-tobacco users. Now, clearly, our brands are purchased by a diverse audience of adults, tobacco consumers, 21+, and our marketing, of course, reflects this diverse consumer base. But we do take efforts to really limit the reach to those unintended audience. ... Your next question comes from Tessa Coleman. Researchers estimate that if menthol cigarettes were eliminated, we would save 651,000 lives, including 238,000 black lives in the next 40 years. Given Altria's stated commitment to reduce combustible tobacco use, why did Altria lobby the White House to stop the menthol cigarette ban from moving forward? Yeah, we feel like, the FDA should make their decisions based on science and evidence. And as I mentioned earlier, we share the common goal of moving all adult smokers to a smoke-free future. We just don't believe prohibition works, and it has many unintended consequences. We really believe that consumers should have a marketplace of FDA-authorized products, where the science and evidence has been studied by the third party, being the FDA, and that all adult smokers, as I mentioned earlier, regardless of background, demographics, or financial means, have equitable access to both cessation and harm reduced products. Your next question comes from Dennis Gilbert. How much is in the budget to buy back stock for 2024 and 2025? Yeah, I appreciate your question, and you may recall from the end of the first quarter, as we did the ABI transaction, where we sold some ABI shares, the board agreed, and we executed what we believe is about $2.4 billion of share repurchases, and what was remaining was a previously authorized by the board $1 billion share repurchases. That's what it has, is the current share repurchase program for 2024. Your next question comes from Robert Toy. As a satisfied shareholder, I ask, do you think shareholders who dislike smoking products and wrongly perceive Altria as doing wrong things should sell their shares and move on to other investments? I appreciate you being a shareholder. We welcome everyone to be a shareholder. We believe our vision lays out where we're headed as a company. We believe that we return lots of cash to shareholders, both in the form of dividends and share repurchases. And we do think that the vision sets us up for success in the future, long-term success, in transitioning and changing the landscape of nicotine in both the United States and then with the progress we're making in international markets. Your last question comes from Lawrence Wolk. Would Altria be able to market and distribute NJOY outside the U.S., and how could this add to Altria's revenues? Yeah, with, with the NJOY product, with the on! product, and then, of course, with the SWIC product that I mentioned earlier, we have the license to be able to sell those internationally. We would look to do that either organically or by partnering with other entities that have the infrastructure or the sales force to already call on stores. So we're actively pursuing those. As I mentioned earlier, we're pleased with the results we see on on! international markets, and on! PLUS, as well as we mentioned that we would be bringing SWIC to an international market by the end of this year. This concludes the question and answer session. Thank you for all of your questions and for your continued interest in Altria. The meeting is now adjourned. The meeting has now concluded. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect.