PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi is stepping down

[Spartan]

PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, one of the most prominent women to lead a Fortune 500 company, will step down on October 3.

She will remain as chairwoman of the board of directors until early 2019. Nooyi, 62, will be replaced by Pepsi's (PEP) global operations chief Ramon Laguarta, 54.

Nooyi, who was born in India, is one of a handful of people of color to lead a Fortune 500 company.

She helped turn Pepsi into one of the most successful food and beverage companies in the world. Sales grew 80% during her 12-year tenure. She spearheaded Pepsi's transition to a greener, more environmentally aware company.

Nooyi has been with Pepsi for 24 years. Before becoming CEO, she led the company's expansion through acquisitions, including its 2001 purchase of Quaker Oats. She earned $31 million last year, and $87 million over the last three years, according to company filings.

 

"Growing up in India, I never imagined I'd have the opportunity to lead such an extraordinary company," she said.

Her departure leaves only 24 women leading Fortune 500 companies, after Beth Ford became the CEO of Land O'Lakes just last week. Just more than a year ago, there were 32 women leading Fortune 500 companies.

Since the middle of last year, several high-profile female CEOs have announced they were stepping down, including Marissa Mayer at Yahoo, Irene Rosenfeld at Mondelez (MDLZ) and Meg Whitman of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).

Related: Why it matters so much every time a woman CEO leaves

Laguarta, Nooyi's successor, has served as president of PepsiCo since September 2017, overseeing global operations, corporate strategy, public policy and government affairs. Laguarta is also an immigrant, having been born in Spain. He had previously been CEO of the European and sub-Saharan African unit of Pepsi before being named the company's president.

Nooyi praised her successor, calling him "exactly the right person to build on our success." She also received praise from analysts following her announcement.

"We have had the privilege of knowing Nooyi for over a decade and have been very impressed with her leadership acumen and very thoughtful approach to managing PepsiCo through what has been a period of very choppy waters for broader consumer packaged goods," said Bonnie Herzog, senior analyst at Wells Fargo. "Nooyi has been an exemplary CEO and sets the bar high."

Still, Pepsi's stock lagged the broader market in recent years, and it has trailed rival Coca-Cola (KO). Shares are down 1.8% this year, compared with a nearly 7% rise in the S&P 500 index. Both Coke and the S&P also have slightly outperformed Pepsi during Nooyi's tenure. Shares of Pepsi were slightly higher in early trading.

[nizambadnarsingyadav]

People of color?

[Heroin]

Tfs chitti

[Spartan]

2 minutes ago, nizambadnarsingyadav said:

People of color?

fcking CNN... when it comes to Corporate affairs....all dems and reps are same racist a$$holes.

ade edaina discrimination against color people wrt to the Reps or Dems in political or immmigration crisis vaste matram..racism gurtostadi..endukante akkada milege vastadi kabatti..

[Android_Halwa]

9 minutes ago, Spartan said:

fcking CNN... when it comes to Corporate affairs....all dems and reps are same racist a$$holes.

ade edaina discrimination against color people wrt to the Reps or Dems in political or immmigration crisis vaste matram..racism gurtostadi..endukante akkada milege vastadi kabatti..

TV channel karchu tho kudina pani kaka....vadu kuda jeethalu ichukovali...karchulu vuntayi...kirayi kattale..teesukunna loans mida apulu kattale....

mileage leni varthalu esthe ie karchulu etla elthayi kaka....

[Spartan]

Just now, Android_Halwa said:

TV channel karchu tho kudina pani kaka....vadu kuda jeethalu ichukovali...karchulu vuntayi...kirayi kattale..teesukunna loans mida apulu kattale....

mileage leni varthalu esthe ie karchulu etla elthayi kaka....

adi corrrecte...ABN V6 ollu chesedi ade kada.