United States beverages giant PepsiCo on Monday named company high-flier Indra Nooyi as its new boss, capping a rapid rise to the highest ranks of corporate America for the Indian-born woman.
PepsiCo said that Nooyi (50) will succeed Steve Reinemund as CEO on October 1, although Reinemund will keep working for the company until May.
A Madras native and graduate of the Yale School of Management, Nooyi said she is “humbled” to be chosen as CEO by the PepsiCo board after serving since May 2001 as president and chief financial officer.
Nooyi will join an exclusive list of women CEOs heading top US companies that includes Patricia Woertz with grains giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), eBay’s Meg Whitman and Anne Mulcahy at Xerox.
Nooyi will become the second-most-senior woman in the US corporate landscape, behind only Woertz. ADM ranks 56th on the Fortune 500 list of biggest US companies as measured by revenues, with PepsiCo in 61st place.
“While we are surprised by this move, PepsiCo’s deep bench gives us confidence that the strong momentum the company has delivered should continue,” Morgan Stanley beverages analyst William Pecoriello said.
“Exemplifying that deep bench is PepsiCo’s promotion of Indra Nooyi … to the CEO post. Given Indra’s involvement in the company’s strategy and vision, and her current role as president and CFO, we would expect a seamless transition,” he said.
PepsiCo’s share price was up 0,81% at $63,84 in late-afternoon trade.
Reinemund (58) said he is retiring to spend more time with his family. “It was, in many respects, the toughest and easiest decision of my life,” he said.
Nooyi was the driving force behind a restructuring that saw PepsiCo hive off a range of businesses including the YUM! Brands restaurants and the Pepsi Bottling Group, along with buying Tropicana.
“Indra’s record of transforming PepsiCo speaks for itself, and she has been an invaluable partner and ally throughout my time as CEO,” Reinemund said. “Having worked side-by-side with Indra for many years, I am convinced she is more than qualified and clearly ready for her new role leading PepsiCo.”
According to Forbes.com, Nooyi stays true to her heritage by often wearing a sari to PepsiCo events. It quotes her as saying: “Being a woman, being foreign-born, you’ve got to be smarter than anyone else.”
“Steve has steered the company to a strong and enviable position, and he will be a continuing source of wisdom and perspective,” she said in a PepsiCo statement.
“I am equally fortunate to have amazing partners, not only on the board and executive team, but in the 157 000 bright, talented colleagues around the world who deliver the results every day and are as committed as I am to continue capturing every growth opportunity.”
Nooyi’s appointment comes ironically as PepsiCo and Coca-Cola battle allegations in her native India that the companies’ fizzy drinks contain toxic levels of pesticides.
Before joining PepsiCo in 1994 as a senior vice-president, Nooyi was head of strategy at Swiss-Swedish engineering multinational ABB. From 1986 to 1990, she was director of corporate strategy at US telecommunications group Motorola.
Nooyi started her career in India as a product manager for Johnson and Johnson and for Mettur Beardsell, a textiles firm.
Among a variety of roles outside of PepsiCo, she serves on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which conducts market operations to set interest rates for the US central bank. — AFP