Embattled vaping company Juul joins wave of layoffs

WASHINGTON — Embattled vaping company Juul Labs announced layoffs Thursday as the company tries to weather growing setbacks to its electronic cigarette business, including lawsuits, government bans and increasing competition.

Juul also said it has obtained new financing from several investors to stay in business, including an effort challenging plans by the Food and Drug Administration to ban its products.

For weeks, industry analysts have speculated that Juul could soon declare bankruptcy or sell itself to another company. Thursday's announcement appears to have put those plans on hold.

"This investment will allow Juul Labs to maintain business operations, continue advancing its administrative appeal of the FDA's marketing denial order and support product innovation and science generation," a company spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement. The company declined to provide further details on the scope of the layoffs or financing.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the news Thursday morning.

While Juul moved its headquarters from San Francisco to Washington in 2020, it recently relisted its office tower at 123 Mission St. in San Francisco's financial district for sale. 

Juul rocketed to the top of the U.S. vaping market five years ago on the popularity of flavors like mango, mint and creme brulee. But the company's rise was fueled by underage use among teenagers, some of whom became hooked on Juul's high-nicotine pods.

The backlash against teen vaping triggered a series of government actions that have forced the company into retreat. Since 2019, Juul has dropped all U.S. advertising and discontinued most of its flavors.

The biggest blow came in June when the Food and Drug Administration rejected the company's application to keep its product on the market as a smoking alternative for adults, throwing the company's future into uncertainty. The FDA said Juul did not adequately address key questions about the potential for chemicals to leech from its device, which heats a flavored nicotine solution into an aerosol. Juul is appealing the FDA decision.

Another setback came in September when the company's biggest largest investor, tobacco giant Altria, announced plans to resume competing in the e-cigarette space.

Altria pulled its own e-cigarettes off the market in 2018 after taking a nearly $13 billion stake in Juul. But that investment has lost more than 95% of its value as Juul's prospects have dimmed, giving Altria the option to exit its non-compete agreement.

The decision means Juul could soon be forced to battle for space on retail shelves with Marlboro-maker Altria, along with longstanding competitors like Reynolds American's Vuse, which recently edged past Juul to become the leading U.S. vaping brand.

Juul's share of the $5.5 billion retail market has plummeted to about 33% from a high of 75% several years ago.

While Juul is no a longer popular with U.S. teens, the company remains a target for politicians in Washington and throughout the country seeking to crackdown on youth vaping.

In September, Juul announced it would pay $440 million to settle an investigation by nearly three dozen states into its marketing practices and their contribution to the spike in underage vaping. Juul still faces nine separate lawsuits from other states. And thousands of personal lawsuits filed by individual and families have been consolidated in a California federal district court.