Jerry Whitson
Deputy General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Mr. Whitson was appointed Deputy General Counsel and Corporate Secretary in January 2011.
He joined PMI in September 2010 as Vice President and Deputy Corporate Secretary. Before joining the company, Mr. Whitson was a Senior Partner at the law firm of Hunton & Williams LLP, where he served for 30 years, lastly as the head of the firm’s Business Practice Group and as a member of its Executive Committee. During his practice with Hunton & Williams LLP he advised multiple leading multinational corporations on U.S. and international mergers and acquisitions, capital market transactions, corporate governance and SEC matters. Mr. Whitson has in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and consumer products industries, having served as outside corporate counsel to our former parent, Altria, for 25 years, including representing that company and its subsidiaries in the acquisitions of Jacobs Suchard, Nabisco and UST, the Kraft IPO and spin-off and the spin-off of Philip Morris International.
A member of the New York and Virginia bars, Mr. Whitson earned his law degree from Boston University School of Law and his undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.