Indra Nooyi

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Indra Nooyi, 2008.

World Economic Forum

Indra Nooyi is an Indian-born American businesswoman who was instrumental in the restructuring and diversification of soft-drink manufacturer PepsiCo, Inc. and its associated brands. Nooyi served as the company’s CEO (2006–18) and chair of the board of directors (2007–19).

Nooyi earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Madras Christian College in 1976 and a master’s degree in business administration from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta two years later. After moving to the United States, she received an additional master’s degree in public and private management from the Yale School of Management in 1980. For the next six years, Nooyi worked as a consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. She later held executive positions at Motorola, Inc., and the engineering firm Asea Brown Boveri (now ABB).

In 1994 Nooyi joined PepsiCo as senior vice president of corporate strategy and development. In 2001 she was named president and chief financial officer of the company. Nooyi was responsible for guiding a major restructuring, which included the company’s spin-off of its restaurants—which included KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell—into Tricon Global Restaurants (which later became Yum! Brands, Inc.), as well as the spin-off of PepsiCo’s bottling operations. In addition, she oversaw the acquisition (1998) of Tropicana Products and a merger in 2001 with the Quaker Oats Co. as part of the company’s strategy of diversifying into more healthful drinks and foods.

Nooyi assumed the title of CEO in October 2006 and the next year became chair of the board as well. The fifth chair and CEO in PepsiCo’s 42-year history, Nooyi was the first woman to lead the soft-drink and snack-food giant and one of only 11 female chief executives of Fortune 500 companies. Although analysts expressed surprise at the timing of Nooyi’s appointment as board chair (her predecessor, Steven Reinemund, had served just five years before abruptly deciding to retire), many praised the skills that she would bring to the job.

Nooyi continued the strategy of making PepsiCo a well-balanced consumer products company that was less reliant on sales of its flagship soft drinks. She also aggressively pursued international expansion. Under her leadership, PepsiCo’s annual revenue increased from $35 billion in 2006 to $63.5 billion in 2017. The following year it was announced that Nooyi would be stepping down as CEO in October and as chair of the board in early 2019.

During the span of her career, Nooyi received 15 honorary degrees. In 2007, the Indian government awarded her the Padma Bhushan, the country’s third highest civilian honor. In 2019, her portrait was inducted into the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, and in 2021, she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame for her contributions to business and leadership. She is also a member of the Asian Hall of Fame and the American Philosophical Society.

Nooyi has also been appointed to the boards of several companies and organizations, including:

Nooyi also served as an independent director of the International Cricket Council.

Nooyi’s memoir, My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future, was published in 2021.