“I’m very honest—brutally honest. I always look at things from their point of view as well as mine. And I know when to walk away.” ~Indra Nooyi
Indra Nooyi is PepsiCo’s Chairman and CEO
PHOTO: Time
Indra Nooyi is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of global food and beverage giant PepsiCo. As CEO and Chairman Nooyi implemented “Performance with Purpose,” which is PepsiCo’s corporate social responsibility promise to do what is right for the environment and the human race. She has been CEO since 2006 and was promoted from President to Chairman in 2007.
An incredibly valuable member of PepsiCo’s team, Nooyi has contributed to the company’s restructuring and shift in global strategy. She has also participated in various mergers and acquisitions, such as Tropicana, Quaker Oats, and Wimm-Bill-Dann.
Nooyi was born and raised in Madras (Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India. She attended the Madras Christian College, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in 1974. By 1976, she had also earned her MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. Nooyi was later accepted to Yale School of Management, where she earned her Master’s in Public and Private Management in 1980.
After graduating from Yale, Nooyi worked for the Boston Consulting Group (BSG), Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri. In 1994, she was brought on at PepsiCo, and by 2001 she had worked her way up to the positions of President and Chief Financial Officer. She was promoted to CEO in 2006, the company’s fifth ever.
Considering PepsiCo’s revenues and net profits have both more than doubled since her appointment as CFO in 2000, it’s no surprise that Indra Nooyi consistently finds herself in prestigious lists of the world’s most powerful women—she has been named as such in the Wall Street Journal, Time, Forbes, and Fortune.
