New York: Recently stepped down from the CEO post of the leading American food & beverages brand Pepsico, Indra Nooyi, recently attended a formal dinner hosted by the American President, Donald Trump. Other prominent corporate leaders were also invited including Ajay Banga, Chief Executive at MasterCard at Trump’s private golf club in New Jersey for having a word on their viewpoint on the country’s recent economic state.
Nooyi and Banga were accompanied by their spouses, Raj Nooyi and Ritu Banga, respectively. Trump’s wife and daughter, Melania and Ivanka also marked their presence for the same. While discussing the country’s economy, Trump spoke out about Indra’s tremendous contributions towards the country’s economy.
Marking Nooyi as one of the “most powerful” women in the world, Trump said, “You talk about business, this is the group. And we’re so honored to have you. And we’re gonna be discussing later on some of the ideas you may have to, as the expression goes, make America great again.”
Predicting the economic growth of the next quarter, Trump felicitated on the fact they “could be in the fives”. He said, “I think we’re gonna be very shortly in the fives, the GDP can go much higher once we get new trade deals.”
24 Years of Serving in Pepsico
Serving in the past 24 years, she has been the CEO for12 whole years, which is the longest tenure of any CEO. She joined Pepsico in 1994, became CFO in 2001 and was named President and CEO in the year 2006. Nooyi has been tremendously successful in taking Pepsico to newer heights during her whole tenure.
Reclassifying PepsiCo’s products into three major categories, ‘fun for you’, ‘better for you’, and ‘good for you’ including potato chips, regular soda, low-fat versions of snacks, oatmeal etc. She could move away from corporate spending from junk foods to better and healthy substitutes with an aim of providing health products. She envisioned to create snacks promoted specifically for women as she felt that it was overlooked category.
New CEO To Take Power from October
Pepsico, on 6th August 2018, announced Nooyi’s replacement, Ramon Laguarta, a 22-year veteran of Pepsico, to take charge as CEO from October 3. Nooyi will continue to be the chairwoman of the company until 2019. Serving the company for 22 years, Ramon has held several imperative posts including the President in 2017.
Indra, conveying her regards to Ramon twitter, said, “Ramon Laguarta is exactly the right person to help build on @PepsiCo’s strong position and success. He has been a critical partner and friend and I am positive that he will take PepsiCo to new and greater heights in the years to come.”
Nooyi’s Contributions to PepsiCo
Said to be one of the “most powerful” women in the world, Nooyi enabled PepsiCo to deliver strong results, under her leadership. From 31st December 2006 to 31st December 2017, the total shareholder return was of 162%. During Nooyi’s tenure, the total cash returned to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases was of $79.4 billion. The Dividend per share tripled and Net Revenue Growth was doubled during from 2006 to 2017. Broadly, the company’s shares have risen by around 80% during Nooyi’s work period.
