Print

Please post once and this message will disappear! Introduce yourself, say hello, jump into a discussion...

[LosingNow]

PepsiCo's CEO to Retire;
Nooyi Is Named New Chief
By ANGELA MOORE
August 14, 2006 8:38 a.m.

PepsiCo Inc. named Indra Nooyi as chief executive, succeeding Steve Reinemund, the soft-drink and snack-food company said Monday.

Ms. Nooyi's appointment is effective Oct. 1. Mr. Reinemund said he is stepping down to spend more time with his family.

Ms. Nooyi, 50 years old, joined Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo -- whose brands include Gatorade sports drinks, Frito-Lay snacks, Quaker oatmeal and its namesake cola -- in 1994 and has served as president and chief financial officer for about five years.
[Steve Reinemund]

"We are exceedingly fortunate to have a leader of Indra's caliber, vision and experience take the helm," presiding director Robert Allen said in a statement. "She has been instrumental to PepsiCo's solid direction and ongoing success and has the complete endorsement and support of the board."

Ms. Nooyi, who was raised in a middle-class family in India, early in her career worked as a corporate strategist at Motorola Inc. and Asea Brown Boveri Inc. After joining Pepsi, she helped spin off Pepsi's restaurant and bottling businesses and worked on the 1998 acquisition of juice maker Tropicana. Then she was lead negotiator on the $13.8 billion acquisition of Quaker Oats Co. in 2001. She was rewarded in May 2001 with a board seat at Pepsi and the additional title of president, putting her in line to succeed Mr. Reinemund someday.

The board has made it clear they don't want to lose Ms. Nooyi. In 2005, she was one of only two Pepsi executives granted multimillion-dollar restricted stock awards that require them to stay until 2009 to cash in.

In becoming CEO, Ms. Nooyi joins an elite group of woman who lead major U.S. corporations. Earlier this year, Pepsi's Frito Lay North America chief, Irene B. Rosenfeld, was named the new CEO of Kraft Foods Inc.

Mr. Reinemund, 58 years old, will serve as executive chairman of PepsiCo and will continue to sit on the board until his retirement next May. He has been with the beverage and food giant for 22 years and spent more than five years as chairman and CEO.

"I have decided that my family is entitled to more time from me than the responsibilities and obligations of continuing as PepsiCo's CEO requires and deserves," said Mr. Reinemund. "It was, in many respects, the toughest and easiest decision of my life."

PepsiCo also said Ms. Nooyi's current responsibilities will be divided between two executives. Richard Goodman, currently CFO of PepsiCo International, will assume the position of CFO for the corporation with responsibility for tax, treasury, control, risk management, and audit and investor relations. And Hugh Johnston, currently senior vice president in charge of transformation, has been promoted to the newly created position of executive vice president, operations, and will add global procurement and information technology to his responsibilities.

Last month, PepsiCo reported a 14% increase in second-quarter profit and raised its full-year earnings outlook, reflecting continued strength from major brands like Gatorade and emerging markets such as Russia. Volume for Pepsi's noncarbonated drinks rose 23% during the quarter, led by Gatorade's 29% growth. That helped offset another sales decline for flagship Pepsi-Cola and the overall soda business slipping 1% by volume.

Shares of PepsiCo, which ranks second to Coca-Cola Co. in the soft-drink market, added 13 cents to end Friday's trading at $63.33.

[Aloo Kashmiri Ul Haq]

PepsiCo names first woman CEO
CFO Indra Nooyi to succeed Steve Reinemund, putting her among the leading women in corporate America.
By Parija B. Kavilanz, CNNMoney.com staff writer
August 14 2006: 4:04 PM EDT



NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Soft drink and snack company PepsiCo Inc. announced Monday that chief financial officer Indra Nooyi will take over from Chairman and CEO Steve Reinemund this October. She becomes the first woman to hold the post and enters the list of leading women in corporate America.

Reinemund, who has seen PepsiCo (Charts) pass rival Coca-Cola (Charts) in terms of market capitalization in December for the first time in its history, will remain as chairman of the company until his retirement.

 
Pepisco Chief Financial Officer Indra Nooyi, who will assume the CEO job in October.
 
 
Indian-born Nooyi, who was ranked No. 11 in Fortune's list of the most powerful women in business, joined the company in 1994 and was named CFO in 2001.

Reinemund cited personal reasons for his decision to retire.

"My family is entitled to more time from me than the responsibilities and obligations of continuing as PepsiCo's CEO requires and deserves," Reinemund said in a statement. "It was, in many respects, the toughest and easiest decision of my life."

"Steve did a remarkable job in maintaining discipline and consistency at Pepsi over the last several years. Indra is a supertalent. No doubt, under her leadership, Pepsi will not miss a beat in this transition," said John Sicher, editor of trade publication Beverage Digest.

Nooyi's current responsibilities will be divided between two PepsiCo veterans: Richard Goodman, who is CFO of PepsiCo International and Hugh Johnston who is currently a senior vice president with the company.

She becomes the fifth CEO in PepsiCo's 41-year history. As CFO, analysts credited her with transforming the company's global strategy at a time when both Coke and Pepsi face a challenging sales environment in their core domestic market for core carbonated soft drinks as more health-conscious consumers buy more juices and water.

Nooyi was the primary architect of PepsiCo's restructuring, including the divestiture of its restaurants into YUM! Brands (Charts), the spinoff and IPO of company-owned bottling operations into Pepsi Bottling Group (Charts), the acquisition of Tropicana and Pepsi's merger with Quaker Oats.

Prior to joining Pepsi, Nooyi's other corporate jobs included vice president and director of corporate strategy and planning at Motorola and consultant with Boston Consulting Group.

"Indra's is brilliant in terms of business strategy. She's someone who can think and move several steps ahead in this game of business chess," said Sicher of Beverage Digest.

Morningstar analyst Matt Riley wrote in a research note Monday that Nooyi was already being groomed as Reinemund's heir apparent and therefore would be well prepared to handle her new role.

Shares of PepsiCo were up less than 1 percent in early trading Monday following the announcement.

-- CNNMoney.com senior writer Chris Isidore contributed to this report.

[Aloo Kashmiri Ul Haq]

eh sorrry i didn't read this thread mods extremely sorry for making a new thread

[fineleg]

COLA QUEEN:

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, she studied at Madras Christian College and Indian Institue of Management, Calcutta before coming to 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

[fineleg]

Unless we are going to give a CV award to Nooyi, this can be moved to ETC. folder.