[9] Reynolds American was formed in January 2004[10] and began trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange as RAI in August 2004.

[15] The Wall Street Journal reported in November 2009 that Reynolds American intended to buy Sweden-based Niconovum AB, a maker of products such as nicotine gum, for $44.5 million.

[20] In July 2014, Reynolds American, Inc. announced it would buy Lorillard Tobacco Company for roughly $25 billion a result of slowed sales.

[27] In January 2017, Reynolds American agreed to a $49.4 billion deal, expected to close in the third quarter of the year after approval from both companies' boards of directors.

[5] On February 25, 2020, Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap of the United States District for the Eastern District of Texas determined that Reynolds remained liable for its full portion of an annual $8 billion dollar settlement payment based on a settlement agreement that Reynolds reached with the State of Texas in 1998.

Chief Judge Gilstrap disagreed in a 92-page memorandum opinion and order, finding that Reynolds' position was "oppressive, inequitable, and unreasonable" in addition to being contrary to governing law.

[29] Reynolds American's vapor subsidiary introduced a second e-cigarette brand (alongside the existing Vuse) in July 2024 called Sensa, a zero nicotine disposable product.