DITN: Indira Nooyi becomes CEO of PepsiCo

[DITN = Desis In The News]

Many of you met Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo when she spoke at the SAJA Convention in 2004. She has now moved up from president and CFO to CEO. See press release and bio - includes video and high-resolution photos. She is the first desi to head a U.S. company of this size; and PepsiCo becomes one of the two biggest US companies run by a woman (Patricia Woertz runs Archer Daniels Midland, a $36B company; there are only 12 women CEOs in the Fortune 500).

You can listen to a recording of a webcast of a conference call with investors here. [Excerpts from conf. call - Nooyi's current title till October is CEO-elect, when she becomes fifth CEO in PepsiCo's history. "Pepsi Co has never been in hands," says Steve Reinemund current CEO. "I am very excited and at the same time very humbled," says Nooyi.]

MORE THAN DRINKS: Among the household names in the $33-billion (sales; market cap is about $100 billion) PepsiCo empire (which has 17 that generate a billion dollars in annual sales): Pepsi and Diet Pepsi, of course; Gatorade and Tropicana drinks; Aquafina water; Lays and Ruffles potato chips; Tostitos and Cheetos chips; Quaker Oats; Cap'n'Crunch and Life cereals. See full list of US and international brands here.

Nooyi was born and raised in Madras (now Chennai), India, and studied at Madras Christian College and Indian Institue of Management, Calcutta, before coming to the Yale School of Management. More about her in the press release link above. Her appointment comes in the midst of a controversy in some Indian states about Pepsi and Coca-Cola.

MADRAS MONDAYS? This is the second Monday in a row that a Chennai-bred person has been elevated to a major post in a major American company. See last week's posting about Srinandan Kasi becoming general counsel of the Associated Press. Meanwhile, SepiaMutiny provides "two lessons from Nooyi's success."

Other desi, ie, South Asian, CEOs in MAJOR US companies ("major" of course, is subjective; $500 million-plus companies and/or brands that are widely known, perhaps? Please help us add more here):

CURRENT AMERICAN CEOs

• Ramani Ayer, chairman and CEO, Hartford Financial Group, a $27-billion financial services co.
• Raj Gupta, chairman and CEO, Rohm & Haas, an $8-billion specialty materials company
• Vinod Gupta, CEO of InfoUSA, a $400 million company (formerly known as American Business Information)
• Indra Nooyi, CEO-elect, PepsiCo

FORMER CEOs

• Rakesh Gangwal, former CEO, USAirways
• Rajat Gupta, former managing partner, McKinsey & Co. (1994-2004)
• Umang Gupta, former CEO of Gupta Corporation, a database company he took public in 1993; now chairman of Keynote Systems
• Sanjay Kumar, former CEO of Computer Associates and co-owner of New York Islanders hockey team (2000-2004)
• Bhaskar Menon, former chairman and CEO of EMI International, one of the Big Four record labels; artists include the Beatles, Deep Purple, Cliff Richard, Duran Duran, Beastie Boys, Norah Jones, etc. (appointed 1978; retired several years ago; now a consultant to the industry)
• Meeta Vyas, former CEO, Signature Brands - Betty Crocker, Cake Mate, etc (first South Asian woman to become CEO of publicly traded company; first South Asian to  head a $1B business)
• Jim Wadia, former CEO, Arthur Andersen (which spun off Accenture in 2000)

LARGE-FIRM CEOs OUTSIDE SOUTH ASIA

• Arun Sarin, CEO of Vodafone, one of world's largest telecom companies, from (market cap: $120B )
• Lakshmi Mittal, CEO and Chairman of Mittal Steel, world's largest steel company (market cap: $7B)

Who else? If you have updates, please e-mail saja@columbia.edu.

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Comments

[Mark Kuiper]

What in the world is a "Desi" and why does it matter??

[Md. Alauddin]

I am a south Asian. Now in North America. I feel very proud of those great guys.

[chhavi]

Mark, see http://www.saja.org/stylebook.html#D for a definition of "desi".

p.s. You're on the *South Asian* Journalists Association Forum ...

[Pradeep Parekh]

Today is a great day for the Hindus.

Congratualtions to Mrs. Indra Nooyi. What a terrific lady! A great inspiration! I wish her a great success at Pepsi.

[Neeti Dewan]

I have been tracking Indra's career for some time and I am happy to see a woman being promoted to CEO at PepsiCo. Kudos to her! She is brilliant and got there on her strong merits...Keeps all of us aiming for higher ground. - Neeti Dewan, The Executive Yogi(TM).

[Yunus]

Great day for Hindus or INDIANS?

[desigirl69]

Desi just means Indian. What in the world is a Mark Kuiper? :)

But you're right. It doesn't matter. This is baseless Indian pride, as if Indian culture is in some kind of competition. It's not.

[Vytheeswaran]

Congrats to Indra for making India proud!
Being a MCCian,I wish her all the very best!

[alex]

i have read your company profile and your dedicated work i like to work your company i am also an mba student i like to work hard

[Garima Khartri]

hello mam,
i want to greet you on this special occasion of hindus. happy diwali

[Balaji]

I made a small video on Indira Nooyi...
she is great lady..let us all congratulate her..
you can know more about her....
in my video...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6kys5-5VAY

Regards
Balaji

[Dr. Roamrico R. mata]

Hi!

Can I ask a favor with you guys? Will it be possible if you could assist me regarding the email address of Mrs. Indra Nooyi because I just want to air my grievance with regards the code of conduct of some employees of Pepsi. I am also desperate where can I send thru email with regards to my complain. I hope you could help me. Thank and More Power!

[Bhagwan Gupta]

I deeply regret missing the opportunity to hear Mrs. Nooyi's address at Miami Leadership Roundtable forum in Miami. However, just by reading the news coverage in the local paper, I just wanted to congratulate her for her vision,dedication, and committment to make a difference. I hope she continues to inspire leaders in the corporate world to practice humility and make this world a better place to live for everyone.

[she is my ideal women]

I want doing something in my life like her.

[she is my ideal women]

I want doing something in my life like her.

[pandurang]

she has a beautiful left eye. I like it.

[shruti suneja]

SHE IS A GREAT LADY. HEADS OFF TO HER VISION AND DEDICATION AND MOREOVER I FEEL VERY INSPIRED FROM HER

[Bobby Cook of Jamioke (Jam-eoke)]

She hired our Jamioke live band/karaoke fusion to perform for a big event and we were lucky enough to get to sing with her and some of the other PepsiCo folks together on stage. She treated us with a wonderful eye to eye honesty that I will never forget. I liked her very much from the moment we met and I hope she calls us back for another gig.

[vasudha]

hi,
i am so happy to hear about Indira Nooyi reachingso high.I am proud to tell you that we studied in the same college Madras Christian College in chennai. Actually we were batch mates. congrats to her.

[Dr.Rama Guduru]

As an Indian I am very proud of Indira Nooyi. She is a great inspiration to all Indians.

[Arao Valoi]

Wow, what a beautfull lady.
Is it possible, guys, to get her email adress. I know that she one of the most apointed candidates for the Obama's Administrations. I could like to say "Hello Indira". So, please....or even her cell phone. wow

[dhiraj kumar sharma]

Resp. Madam,

I got an mail on dated 18.03.09 from Pepsi Bottling Co. UK that my mail ID was randomly selected by the computer and I have won amount of Rs.5900000 lac approximately. Whether it is right or fake. I think that this is attached with the PEPSI Co. They wrote me send us 450 US Dollars for courrier charges. I wrote them to deduct the prize money from the winning amount. Because I am doing private job in a manufacturing co. as a machine operator and earning Rs.4000 Per month. Please tell me whether it is true or fake information.

Thanking You
Dhiraj Sharma

[dissertation writing]

Blogs are good for every one where we get lots of information for any topics nice job keep it up !!!

[miloni barot]

this is the all inforation i needed. m satisfy with this thank you