From navigating motherhood to breaking the glass ceiling in corporate America, Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo's former chair and CEO was the first woman of colour and the first woman of Indian origin to run a Fortune 500 company.
Nooyi grew up in Chennai India and got an MBA from Yale before joining PepsiCo as a senior vice president of corporate strategy development in 1994. Within a few years, she was appointed president and chief financial officer of the company. She went on to conduct some major restructuring of the company. In 2006, Nooyi became the CEO and also took up the position of the chairperson of the board in the following year. This feat made her the first woman to lead the soft-drink and snack company. She became one of the only 11 female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.
Under her tenure as CEO, PepsiCo's revenue grew from $35 billion in 2006 to $63.5 billion in 2017 and by the end of last year, total shareholder return was 162 percent. She introduced the Performance with Purpose vision, an initiative to drive long-term growth while leaving a positive imprint on society and the environment. This strategy also focused on reducing waste, conserving water, renewable energy sources and recycling. According to a report, in 2020, company-operated U.S. facilities are using 100% renewable electricity. Nooyi, who turned 67 this year, launched her new book ‘My Life in Full: Work, Family and Our Future’ - an intimate and powerful memoir.
Forbes magazine ranked Nooyi on the 2008 through 2017 lists of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women. Nooyi was elected as the chairwoman of the US-India Business Council in 2008. In 2013 she was awarded the Padma Bhushan award by the President of India Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. She was also ranked #3 on Forbes list of the World’s Powerful Moms.
In June 2018, she joined the International Cricket Council Board as the organisation's first independent female director. Nooyi retired in January, 2019 after 24 years with the company. She served as CEO for 12 years, seven years longer than the average CEO tenure at large companies according to an Equilar study. Since February 2019, Nooyi has been a member of the board of directors at Amazon. Last year, she also joined Philips as a Supervisory Board Member.