Joseph Frederick Cullman III (April 9, 1912 – April 30, 2004) was an American businessman, CEO of

Philip Morris Phil(l)ip or Phil Morris may refer to: Companies *Altria, a conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the tobacconist **Philip Morris USA, a tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group **Philip Morris Inter ...

Company from 1957 to 1978 and tennis aficionado.

Biography

Cullman was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family on April 9, 1912 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, the son of Frances Nathan Wolff and Joseph F. Cullman Jr. He had two brothers

Edgar M. Cullman Edgar M. Cullman (January 7, 1918 – August 28, 2011) was an American businessman who served as President and CEO of General Cigar Company and is credited with transforming the image of cigars. Biography Edgar Meyer Cullman was born to a Jewish ...

and

Lewis B. Cullman Dorothy Cullman (February 18, 1918 – April 6, 2009) was an American television producer and philanthropist. She and her husband, Lewis B. Cullman (January 26, 1919 – June 7, 2019), contributed a combined $250 million to numerous organization ...

(married to Dorothy Freedman Cullman). He was educated at the

Collegiate School (New York City) ("Unless God, then in vain") nl, Eendracht maakt macht("In unity there is strength") , established = , streetaddress = 301 Freedom Place South , city = New York , state = New Yo ...

and the

Hotchkiss School The Hotchkiss School is a coeducational preparatory school in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States. Hotchkiss is a member of the Eight Schools Association and Ten Schools Admissions Organization. It is also a former member of the G30 Schools gr ...

. In 1929, his father purchased the Webster Tobacco Company after the 1929 stock market collapse where the younger Cullman worked during the summers while attending

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

from which he graduated in 1935. After college he worked as a clerk in a local tobacco store and then worked at the Uppmann Cigar factory in Cuba. In 1941, his father and uncle, Howard S. Cullman, founded an investment company, Cullman Brothers Incorporated, to purchase

Benson & Hedges Benson & Hedges is a British brand of cigarettes owned by American conglomerate Altria. Cigarettes under the ''Benson & Hedges'' name are manufactured worldwide by different companies such as Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, Philip Morris USA, British ...

. Cullman served during World War II and after the war, he went to work for Benson & Hedges as executive vice president until 1953. In 1954, Cullman brothers exchanged its interest in Benson & Hedges for $22.4 million in

stock. Cullman was appointed a vice president at Philip Morris in 1954; executive vice president in 1955; president and CEO in 1957; and chairman of the board and CEO in 1967, a position he held until 1978."Joseph Cullman III, 92; Made Philip Morris a Power"
''Los Angeles Times'', 3 May 2004 During his tenure as CEO, the Philip Morris brand

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Ma ...

became the most popular brand of cigarette in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. Described as "the cigarette industry's chief defender against the antitobacco movement", he oversaw the creation of the successful

Marlboro Man The Marlboro Man is a figure that was used in tobacco advertising campaigns for Marlboro cigarettes. In the United States, where the campaign originated, it was used from 1954 to 1999. The Marlboro Man was first conceived by Leo Burnett in 1954. ...

campaign from the 1950s onwards which has since become known as an icon of American TV advertising. In a now notorious 1971 television interview on the American current affairs program ''

Face the Nation ''Face the Nation'' is a weekly news and morning public affairs program airing Sundays on the CBS radio and television network. Created by Frank Stanton in 1954, ''Face the Nation'' is one of the longest-running news programs in the history ...

'', in response to a recently published study on the large numbers of undersized babies born to pregnant female smokers he declared "I concluded from that report that it's true that babies born from women who smoke are smaller, but they are just as healthy as the babies born to women who do not smoke. Some women would prefer having smaller babies."

Personal life

In 1935, he married Susan Lehman, daughter of

Harold M. Lehman Harold may refer to: People * Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Harold (surname), surname in the English language * András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold" Arts ...

and member of the

Lehman family The Lehman family is a prominent family of Jewish German-Americans who founded the financial firm Lehman Brothers. Some were also involved in American politics. Members have married into the prominent Morgenthau, Loeb, and Bronfman families. The ...

; they had one daughter, Dorothy Cullman Treisman, before divorcing in 1974. He then married Joan Paley Straus who had two children from a previous marriage, Tracy Straus and Barnard S. Straus Jr. They divorced soon after marrying but moved back in together after several years and remarried in 1988. Away from the tobacco industry he had a great interest in Tennis. His company, Philip Morris, at the request of

Gladys Heldman Gladys Medalie Heldman (May 13, 1922 – June 22, 2003) was an American tennis player, manager and magazine publisher. She was the founder of ''World Tennis'' magazine. As a manager, she supported and represented Billie Jean King and eight other f ...

, sponsored the first Virginia Slims Women's Tennis Tour starting in 1970. He served as Chairman of the US Open at Forest Hills in 1969 and 1970 and as both President and Chairman of the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an ind ...

from 1982 to 1988, into which he was inducted in 1990."Joseph F. Cullman, 3rd"
at the International Tennis Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cullman, Joseph 1912 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American tobacco industry executives Businesspeople from New York City Jewish American philanthropists Lehman family Philanthropists from New York (state) Cullman family