Source: Wikipedia

Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi (born 28 October 1955) is an Indian-born American business executive. She is the current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo, the second largest food & beverage business in the world (by net revenue). According to Forbes, she is consistently ranked among World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.

Early life and career

Nooyi was born in Madras, Tamil Nadu, India. She was educated at Holy Angels’ Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Madras. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics from Madras Christian College in 1974 and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (MBA) from Indian Institute of Management Calcutta in 1976.

Beginning her career in India, Nooyi held product manager positions at Johnson & Johnson and textile firm Mettur Beardsell. She was admitted to Yale School of Management in 1978 and earned a Master’s degree in Public and Private Management. While at Yale, she completed her summer internship with Booz Allen Hamilton. Graduating in 1980, Nooyi joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and then held strategy positions at Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri.

PepsiCo executive

Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 and was named president and CFO in 2001. Nooyi has directed the company’s global strategy for more than a decade and led PepsiCo’s restructuring, including the 1997 divestiture of its restaurants into Tricon, now known as Yum! Brands. Nooyi also took the lead in the acquisition of Tropicana in 1998, and merger with Quaker Oats Company, which also brought Gatorade to PepsiCo. In 2007 she became the fifth CEO in PepsiCo’s 44-year history.

According to BusinessWeek, since she started as CFO in 2000, the company’s annual revenues have risen 72 percent, while net profit more than doubled, to $5.6 billion in 2006.

Nooyi was named on Wall Street Journal ‘s list of 50 women to watch in 2007 and 2008, and was listed among Time ‘s 100 Most Influential People in The World in 2007 and 2008. Forbes named her the #3 most powerful woman in 2008. Fortune ranked her the #1 most powerful woman in business in 2009 and 2010. On the 7th of October 2010 Forbes magazine ranked her the 6th most powerful woman in the world.

Compensation

While CEO of PepsiCo in 2011, Nooyi earned a total compensation of $17 million which included a base salary of $1.6 million, a cash bonus of $2.5 million, pension value and deferred compensation was $3 million.

Honors, awards and international recognition

Forbes magazine ranked Nooyi fourth on the 2008 and 2009 list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. Fortune magazine has named Nooyi number one on its annual ranking of Most Powerful Women in business for 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 2008, Nooyi was named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report. In 2008, she was elected to the Fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In January 2008, Nooyi was elected Chairwoman of the US-India Business Council (USIBC). Nooyi leads USIBC’s Board of Directors, an assembly of more than 60 senior executives representing a cross-section of American industry.

Nooyi has been named 2009 CEO of the Year by Global Supply Chain Leaders Group.

In 2009, Nooyi was considered one of “The TopGun CEOs” by Brendan Wood International, an advisory agency. In 2010 she was named #1 on Fortune‘s list of the “50 Most Powerful Women” and #6 on Forbes list of the “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women”.After five years on top, PepsiCo’s Indian American chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi has been pushed to the second spot as most powerful woman in US business by Kraft’s CEO, Irene Rosenfeld.

Nooyi was named to Institutional Investors Best CEOs list in the All-America Executive Team Survey in 2008 to 2011.

Memberships and Associations

Nooyi is a Successor Fellow of the Yale Corporation. She serves as a member of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum, International Rescue Committee, Catalyst and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Eisenhower Fellowships, and has served as Chairperson of the U.S.-India Business Council.

Nooyi serves as an Honorary Co-Chair for the World Justice Project. The World Justice Project works to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen the Rule of Law for the development of communities of opportunity and equity.

Popular culture and shows

Nooyi has also been mentioned in two episodes of the hit CW show, Gossip Girl, where one of the main characters, Blair Waldorf plans to get an internship under her.

Personal life

Nooyi is married to Rajkantilal Nooyi. They have two daughters and reside in Greenwich, Connecticut.