Indra Nooyi

Indra Nooyi (born October 28, 1955) led PepsiCo as its chairman and CEO from 2006 until 2018. She is an Indian-born American business executive who regularly appears on global rankings of the most powerful women. Forbes placed her at number 13 in 2014, and Fortune ranked her the second most powerful woman in both 2015 and 2017. She serves on the boards of Amazon and the International Cricket Council, among others.

Nooyi grew up in Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India, the second of three children. Her father worked at the State Bank of Hyderabad, and her mother was a homemaker who lacked formal education but created strategic dinner games for her daughters. When Nooyi and her sister were between eight and eleven, their mother had them write speeches about what they would do as president or prime minister. If Nooyi fell short on a task, her paternal grandfather—a judge—made her write “I will not make excuses” two hundred times.

She attended Holy Angels Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in T. Nagar. While studying, she played guitar in a band and excelled at cricket. In 1975, she earned bachelor’s degrees in physics, chemistry, and mathematics from Madras Christian College (University of Madras), followed by a postgraduate diploma from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta in 1976. In 1978, she moved to the United States for Yale School of Management, earning a master’s degree in public and private management in 1980.

Her career began in India with product manager roles at Johnson & Johnson and Beardsell Ltd. While at Yale, she interned at Booz Allen Hamilton. After graduating, she joined the Boston Consulting Group as a strategy consultant, then worked at Motorola as vice president and director of corporate strategy and planning, and later at Asea Brown Boveri.

Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 as senior vice president for strategic planning. She became senior vice president for corporate strategy and development in 1996, then senior vice president and chief financial officer in 2000. In 2001, she was named president and CFO and joined the board. She became CEO in 2006, the fifth in the company’s 44-year history, replacing Steven Reinemund.

She directed global strategy for over a decade, overseeing major restructuring. In 1997, she led the divestiture of Tricon (now Yum! Brands), which included Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell. The proceeds accelerated share buybacks and gave PepsiCo more flexibility for future acquisitions. She also orchestrated the 1998 acquisition of Tropicana for $3.3 billion, which faced internal and Wall Street opposition, and the 2001 merger with Quaker Oats, bringing Gatorade—then responsible for 80% of sports drink sales—into the company. These moves strengthened PepsiCo’s position against Coca-Cola’s Powerade. Under her leadership, annual net profit rose from $2.7 billion to $6.5 billion.

Her strategic vision, called “Performance with a Purpose,” aimed for long-term growth with positive social and environmental impact. She reclassified products into three categories: “fun for you” (potato chips and regular soda), “better for you” (diet or low-fat versions), and “good for you” (oatmeal and similar items). She shifted spending from junk foods toward healthier options, even aiming to improve the healthiness of “fun” offerings. In 2015, she removed aspartame from Diet Pepsi, but public backlash led to its reintroduction in 2016.

Nooyi also focused on sustainability, redesigning packaging to reduce waste, conserving water, switching to renewable energy, and increasing recycling. She worked to build a culture of employee retention, writing to the parents of her leadership team and visiting their homes to create personal connections. In 2018, she announced plans to develop a snack line marketed specifically to women, based on behavioral differences in how men and women consume snacks. At one point, PepsiCo considered changing its name and moving away from its namesake cola, but the health push eventually stalled.

Nooyi stepped down as CEO on August 6, 2018, succeeded by Ramon Laguarta, a 22-year company veteran.