Illustration:Aïda Amer/Axios
Altria's $12.8 billion investment for a 35% stake in Juul is at risk of becoming one of the worst corporate investments of all time.
The big picture: Sometimes it's darkest before the light, but right now it looks like Altria got smoked.
The latest: Juul keeps getting hit left and right these past few weeks — particularly after the recent spate of vaping-related lung diseases. Juul is also facing a possible Congressional subpoena after failing to provide documents in July.
- Last week, President Trump proposed banning all flavored vaping pods from the U.S. market, including mint and menthol.
- Earlier this week, Juul products disappeared from Chinese e-commerce sites JD.com and Alibaba's Tmall, without explanation.
- Yesterday, India banned e-cigarettes entirely.
Go deeper: The global anti-vaping tipping point