PepsiCo’s CEO Indra Nooyi to step down
Indra Nooyi, the CEO of PepsiCo, will step down in early October, the company announced on 6 August 2018. She held the top job for twelve years and was the firm’s fifth CEO in the group’s 41-year history. Her successor is a company insider, Ramon Laguarta, 54, a Spanish national, who has held various positions in his 22 years at PepsiCo.
PepsiCo refrained from giving an explanation why it chose to replace its top woman. Ms Nooyi, 62, has been with PepsiCo for 24 years. She will remain as Chairman until early next year. Ms Nooyi was born in Madras, now Chennai, and left India at the age of 23 to study at Yale. She went on to work for Boston Consulting and later Motorola, where she became director of corporate strategy and planning. She joined PepsiCo in 1994. Before becoming CEO, she was the firm’s Chief Financial Officer.
Ms Nooyi was one of the few women CEOs in the S&P 500 index. Her departure drops their number to 24, according to data compiled by researcher Catalyst. The list was last updated on 13 July 2018. Earning over USD 30 million this year, she ranked second highest paid female CEO on a list compiled by pay consultant Equilar.
Under Ms Nooyi's leadership, the company has acquired or launched a wide variety of products designed to appeal to customers seeking more natural ingredients. Products the company considers “good for you” or “better for you” now make up 50 percent of the company's business, up from 38 percent in 2006, it was reported.
She also knew how to stand her ground. For two years she faced down the activist investor Nelson Peltz, who wanted her to break the company into two – a snacks and a beverage firm. In the end her argument to keep the two units together because of the leverage it gives the company over retailers, won out and Mr Peltz sold his stake in PepsiCo in 2016.
Her successor, Mr Laguarta, currently serves as President of PepsiCo, overseeing global operations, corporate strategy, public policy and government affairs.
