On August 6, 2018, Indra Nooyi, who has been CEO of PepsiCo since 2006, proclaimed to abdicate the throne, after holding the top position for 12 years. In her 24 years grip at PepsiCo, she helped precede more healthy products to the company’s food and drink portfolio.
The 62-year-old was born in 1955 in Chennai, India — a city of seven million in South India. The Chennai-born had secured her B.S. from Madras Christian College and her M.B.A. from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta — two of India’s most prestigious universities. In 1978, got shifted to the US, when she joined the Yale School of Management.
During her teenage, Nooyi has been a part of a rock band, where she exclaimed being a rebellious child in a conservative family. Apart from being a prominent face of women leaders across the globe, Nooyi in her earlier stage was not endorsed by her mother to pursue her studies at Yale, despite earning a hefty financial aid package. At long last, Indra married Raj K. Nooyi, who has been President at Amsoft Systems since 2002. The couple has two daughters—Preetha Nooyi and Tara Nooyi.
When Nooyi was 39, she received offers from General Electric and PepsiCo. When the latter offered her a role as chief strategist, she began working with the highly recognizable food and drink company. One of her earliest and most open decisions was convincing the PepsiCo CEO to dab its restaurant division, which entailed fast food chains like Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Nooyi also serves on the boards of the International Cricket Council and several other non-profit organization, including the US-India Business Council, the Consumer Goods Forum.
While PepsiCo was flourishing in the 1990s and early 2000s, a slew of factors slowed down the company right as Nooyi took over as CEO in 2006. So, Nooyi had to judge whether it was better to achieve short-term or long-term success. One of Nooyi’s initiatives was befitting more design-focused. Another feature of Nooyi’s long-term strategy was prioritizing healthy products.
Last year, PepsiCo generated $63.5 billion in revenue through their products. Nooyi herself earned more than $31 million last year.
“Leading PepsiCo has truly been the honor of my lifetime, and I’m incredibly proud of all we have done over the past 12 years to advance the interests not only of shareholders but all our stakeholders in the communities we serve,” Nooyi said in a statement. PepsiCo president Ramon Laguarta will replace Nooyi from October 3. Nooyi manifested to Bloomberg that she plans on taking a break — but not for too long. She wants to help develop more female talent to ensure better representation of women in top leadership roles.
Nooyi’s spotless journey from a dreamer to an inspiration to many is simply flabbergasting. Nooyi had also created history by being among the few India-born females to lead an all-inclusive giant when she took over the reins at PepsiCo.
