INDRA NOOYI
Indian born American businesswoman Indra Nooyi was rated fourth among Fortune 500 Women CEOs in the world. She is the president and Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of the beverage giant PepsiCo. Under her leadership, the company ’s revenue rose 10 percent in 2008 to $43.3 billion and raised its profile in some goodwill producing areas. During her time, healthier snacks have been marketed and the company is battled for a net-zero impacts on the environment. In addition, she had been credited with shaping Pepsico’s current focus on the convenient foods and beverages business, influencing the company’s $ 3.3 billion acquisition of Tropicana, the juice company in 1998. She introduced the new products such as Smartfood’s low-fat popcorn clusters, low-calorie Trop 50, and Starbucks Frappuccino Lite, which attracts health-conscious and female consumers. She was rated third on the list of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” in 2008 and Fortune magazine has selected her as number one in the list of “Most Powerful Women in business for 2006, 2007 and 2008″. Furthermore, she was nicknamed as “Iron woman of Pepsico”.
BIOGRAPHY
Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi was born on 28th October, 1955 in Tamil Nadu, India as the daughter of Krishnamurthy and Shantha Krishnamurthy. She had gained her school education from “Banasthali High School”, Kathmandu and gained her graduation in Chemistry, Physics and Maths from “Madras Christian College (MCC)”. On completion of her graduation, she went to Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta for doing Masters in Finance and Marketing. After the completion of her MBA, she had worked in Boston Consulting Group(BCG), Asea Brown Boveri(ABB), Motrola and then Johnson and Johnson (J&J) in Mumbai. After that, she had never looked back in life. Nooyi joined “PepsiCo” in 1994 was named president and CFO in 2001. She took many steps to restructure the company which includes the privation of its restaurants into YUM! Brands. In addition, she took the lead in the acquisition of Tropicana fruit juice in 1998, and merger with Quaker Oats Company. The company’s annual revenues have risen 72%, while net profit more than doubled, to $5.6 billion when she was CFO of that company. In 2007, she became the CEO of PepsiCo. She is the one who has strictly planned for the attack of Pepsi into the sport drinks market in association with Gatorade. Her quick decision making ability and go getting attitude had won her acclaim in the company and this helped her to build a strong foundation in the career graph to reach the top position in the company. In addition, she is the only Indian woman to become the Chief Executive Officer of the more $ 25 Billion Multinational company and the first Indian to reach to this level. By achieving this position, she showed that women’s are not only a homemaker, but with their utter strengths and courage, they would have ruled over the world. In addition, she honors her heritage by often attending PepsiCo events wearing a sari and also follows Indian beliefs and practice. She is also a member of the Boards of the ‘Lincoln Center for the performing Arts’ in the New York City and a member of the Boards of various organizations like Motorola and Yale University. Now, Indra Nooyi lives in Greenwich, Connecticut with her husband Raj and their two daughters.