10 Famous Corporate Whistleblowers in Publicly-Traded Companies

9. Jeffrey Wigand and Brown & Williamson (1996)

Jeffrey Wigand, the former Vice President at Brown & Williamson the tobacco company was fired from his position in 1996, after he reported the company’s maleficent intention to addict smokers. The whistleblower even received anonymous death threats after revealing the fact that the company manipulated the level of nicotine in cigarette smoke to achieve its purpose. As a result a Medicaid suit was filed against the tobacco industry by more than forty states, leading to a $368 billion health related damage settlement by major tobacco companies including Brown & Williamson.

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