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| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| Industry | Pulp and paper |
| Founded | 1898; 127 years ago (1898) inCorinth, New York, United States |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | Memphis, Tennessee, United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Andrew Silvernail (CEO) |
| Revenue |  US$18.6 billion (2024)[1] |
| US$255 million (2024)[1] | |
 US$557 million (2024)[1] | |
| Total assets | US$22.8 billion (2024)[1] |
| Total equity | US$8.17 billion (2024)[1] |
Number of employees | 37,000 (2024)[1] |
| Subsidiaries | Temple-Inland, CMCP, Cartón y Papel Reciclado S.A., Cartonajes Union S.L., ZAO, Weldwood of Canada, Castell, L.P., Sustainable Forests, Bolsaflex |
| Website | internationalpaper |
TheInternational Paper Company is an Americanpulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world.[2] It has approximately 39,000 employees,[3] and is headquartered inMemphis,Tennessee.[4][5]
The company was incorporated January 31, 1898, upon the merger of 17 pulp and paper mills in the northeastern United States. Its founders and first two presidents wereWilliam Augustus Russell, who died suddenly in January 1899, andHugh J. Chisholm.[6] Philip Tell Dodge, president of theMergenthaler Linotype Company, served as its chairman for 11 years.[7] The invention of theLinotype dramatically increased the size of newspapers and the need fornewsprint. The newly formed company supplied 60 percent of all newsprint in the country.[citation needed]
The Hudson River Mill inCorinth,New York, where theSacandaga River joins theHudson River, was a pioneer in the development of the modern paper industry in the late 19th century.[8][9] The first wood-basednewsprint paper mill in New York, it was built byAlbrecht Pagenstecher in 1869.[10]
In the early 20th century, the Hudson River Mill was one of the company's largest plants and served both as its principal office, and a place where paper workers helped shape the direction of the industry's early labor movement.
AfterWorld War II, Hudson River Mill workers developed the production ofcoated paper for the company. Shifting economic forces resulted in the mill's closure in November 2002.[11][12] The historic mill was slated for partial demolition during 2011. The work including asbestos removal was completed by Northstar Group Services.[13][14][15][16]
Given the nature of their products, paper plants are highly flammable. Therefore, International Paper Company frequently usedasbestos insulation in its walls, floors, and roofs as a protective measure. Asbestos insulation was also used on pipes andboilers throughout International Paper plants. This material intended to protect people turned out to severely damage their health[17] The producers did not reveal that their asbestos products were dangerous, even though asbestos was known to cause illnesses as far back as the 1920s. Consequently, many former employees of International Paper have been diagnosed withmesothelioma following decades of service.[18]
The bookBetrayal of Local 14: Paperworkers, Politics, and Permanent Replacements was written about the strike at the Androscoggin Mill. The book was written by Julius Gerson Getman, who was an attorney representing the striking paperworkers.
In 1986, the company acquired theHammermill Paper Company, founded in 1898, which managed eleven papermills nationwide, and had its corporate offices based in Erie, PA; in 1988, the Masonite Corporation; and in 1989, theGerman paper company Zanders Feinpapiere AG and theFrench paper manufacturer Aussedat Rey. In 1996, it purchased Federal Paper Board.[19] In 1999, the company purchasedUnion Camp Corporation, and in June 2000Champion International. Additionally, it owned shares in theChilean companyCopec.[20]
In 2012, International Paper acquiredTemple-Inland in a deal valued at $4.5 billion. Temple-Inland then became a wholly owned subsidiary of International Paper. At the time of sale, Temple-Inland's corrugated packaging operation consisted of 7 mills and 59 converting facilities as well as the building products operation.[21]
International Paper completed the acquisition of British packaging companyDS Smith for $7.2 billion in January 2025.[22][23]
In 2005 and 2006, the company undertook a significant restructuring, selling over 6,000,000 acres (24,000 km2) of forestland in the U.S., along with its coated paper,kraft paper, wood products, and beverage packaging businesses, as well as subsidiaries Arizona Chemical and New Zealand-basedCarter Holt Harvey. Thecoated paper business (four mills inMaine,Michigan andMinnesota) were sold toApollo Management and now operate asVerso Paper. The kraft paper business (composed of a kraft paper mill inRoanoke Rapids,North Carolina and a dunnage bag plant inFordyce,Arkansas) was sold toKapstone Paper and Packaging and operates as Kapstone Kraft Paper.[24]
The beverage packaging business, now called Evergreen Packaging, was purchased byCarter Holt Harvey, following the purchase of CHH byGraeme Hart. The company sold its wood products division toWest Fraser Timber, based inVancouver,British Columbia. This included 13sawmills, making West Fraser the second-largest producer of lumber in North America, afterWeyerhaeuser Company.
Under pressure frombudget sequestration in 2013, thefederal government of the United States (IP's largest customer) moved from physical checks to cheaper electronic transactions.
The company's formerlogo was designed by American graphic designersLester Beall and Richard Rogers in 1960. The logo featured the letters "I" and "P" which formed a stylized arrow also resembling a tree surrounded by a circle. A primary constraint in the design process was the need for a logo simple enough that it could be stenciled onto trees and lumber intended for paper production.[25] On March 7, 2023, the company announced a rebrand to coincide with the company's 125th anniversary. The rebrand included a new logo which features a stylized monogram, composed of green elements forming the two letters. Each of the elements features a straight top line and a rounded bottom. The dark green emblem is placed on the left from the two-leveled title case inscription in a modern sans-serif typeface, in black.[26]
| International Paper Headquarters | |
|---|---|
 International Paper's Headquarters in East Memphis | |
| General information | |
| Type | Office complex (four buildings) |
| Location | Memphis,Tennessee |
| Country | United States |
| Current tenants | International Paper |
| Owner | Highwood Properties Inc. |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 10 (for each tower) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architecture firm | The Crump Firm |
International Paper owns Tower I (at 6400 Poplar) and occupies the entire property and leases 50,000 square feet in Tower II (at 6410 Poplar) and all of Tower III (at 6420 Poplar).[27]
In 2000, International Place Tower III was designed and rests amid the two existing towers and courtyard.The Crump Firm designed the eleven-story, 234,000square foot tower to include offices, conference rooms, training rooms and dining facilities. The exteriorgranite was bought and warehoused in the mid-1980s with the intent that its construction would mimic that of the earlier towers. However, inclusion ofseismic criteria to the Memphisbuilding code in 1994 made the initial design unable to move forward. Therefore,architects had to completely change the originalstructural design in order to adhere to the strict exterior dimensions needed to utilize the existing granite and to match the existing towers.[28]
In 2012, it was announced that International Paper was building a $90.2 million, 235,000-square-foot tower at 6430 Poplar Ave. in East Memphis.[27]
In addition to the four office towers at International Place, the company operates an airport hangar facility (at 2522 Winchester Road) and a Southwind data center at (3232 Players Club Parkway). Other company related facilities include a recycling center on South Third and two warehouse operations across Memphis.[27]
The company used to be the largest producer ofplastic lids andpaper cups, manufacturing for the fast-food giantsMcDonald's,Wendy's,Subway, but its consumer packaging division was sold toGraphic Packaging on January 2, 2018. Its wood products division was sold in 2007 to West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd., a company headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company producesprinter andcopier paper,envelopes, corrugatedpackaging andpulp.
The company is a formerDow Jones Industrial Average component, included in the index from July 3, 1956, to April 7, 2004. It was one of three components to be dropped in the 2004 change, together withAT&T Corporation andEastman Kodak.
Beginning February 1, 2007, the sale of the beverage-packaging division was completed asNew Zealand billionaireGraeme Hart won the bid with purchase price of nearly $800 million. The division now operates under the Evergreen label.
On March 17, 2008, the company announced it was buying the containerboard unit ofWeyerhaeuser for $6 billion in cash.
In October 2007, it formed a joint venture with Ilim Holding, Ilim Group, the alliance in the Russian forest sector.
On July 1, 2014, the company announced the completion of the xpedx spinoff which merged with Unisource, creating an independent company,Veritiv Corporation.
On May 2, 2016, it announced the acquisition of Weyerhaeuser's cellulose fiber division. The acquisition was completed on Dec 1, 2016.[29]
On Oct 1, 2021 a spin-off was completed creating a stand alone company by the name of Sylvamo. Sylvamo's headquarters are also located in Memphis TN. Divested were the Printing & Communications (White Uncoated Freesheet) mills in Ticonderoga NY, Eastover SC, Mogi Guacu Brazil, Luiz Antonio Brazil, Tres Lagoas Brazil, Saillat France, and Svetogorsk Russia.
| International | |
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| National | |
